Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction
by Silverpen
Summary: Voldemort enlists the help of Vampires to take over Hogwarts, and only Harry Potter and a secret wizard- muggle organization can stop them!
1. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter  
and the  
Silver Bullet Faction  
  
Chapter One  
Deja-Vu  
  
The Old castle outside of Hogsmeade had been deserted for quite some time. Only a few miles away from the small town, and twice further from Hogwarts. Still, it seemed as if everyone was afraid to approach it. It didn't seem, well... important... no. It was not the castle, the rickety old shutters on it, or the wind howling in the windows. No, it was the history.  
  
Only two score years ago, there had been a huge and loud party thrown by the two kind owners of the palace. But the next day when nobody had returned home from the party, the castle was searched. What the man saw made his blood run cold and the hair on the back of his neck stand straight on end.  
  
Matt Boeing, the current head of the police of the closest town besides Hogsmeade, had come to the mansion to question the owners on the whereabouts of the people who had attended the party. However, when the door was not answered, he took the liberty of going in himself.   
  
An eerie silence seemed to envelope the castle as he stepped silently through the halls. All seemed normal (aside from the fact that the place was deserted) until he turned into the ballroom.   
  
He was horrified, lost for words. He had seen bodies, people who had been shot or stabbed or strangled, but never anything like this.   
Almost a hundred people were roped by their hands to the ceiling. The floor was spattered with a thick, dark liquid. He bent down to take a closer look.  
  
"Blood." He murmured as he slowly turned pale.  
  
"Uhhh..." There was a moan that echoed through the room. He looked up and saw that a few of the people were stirring.  
  
"Don't move! I'll get some help!" He called, and began to run out, amazed that some were still alive.  
  
About a half-hour later, however, when the doctors arrived, there were no bodies on the ceiling. Nor was there any blood on the floor. All there was, was an acrid odor and a chip of a very pointy tooth on the floor.  
  
***  
  
The incident had made huge headlines, however, what was most suspicious was the tooth. Someone had probably fallen and cracked it, but the odd thing was that top scientists of the day had not been able to tell what the tooth was from. It certainly wasn't human.  
  
And even more odd was the headline the next day. It said that the two scientists studying the tooth, as well as the tooth, had been found missing.   
  
And a question arose from the population in unison, What is going on here?!?  
  
To this day, the mansion was still deserted. But everybody was still afraid that the killer was still there, waiting. How did he manage to destroy or subdue everyone in that hall? And how did he manage to rope them all up thirty feet in the air to the ceiling? Only two men had the answer.   
  
One's name was Albus Dumbledore. The other...  
  
  
  
To this day, the mansion was still deserted. However, the night is a different story.  
  
"Yes, yes, this is perfect." A high, cold voice cackled through the halls of the great, dank castle.   
  
"Well, your plans are interesting indeed. I think that the school is plenty enough for all of us. All that fresh, young blood. Yes, indeed."  
  
"I know that not even Dumbledore could stop you, and your friends. And soon, I will not only take over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but... the world. And your only enemy shall be the sun."  
  
"Yes. But we must proceed quickly, sir. For our thirst grows stronger each day."  
  
"I understand. The new school year will start in a few weeks. Until then, nothing can be done."  
  
"Very well." The second man smiled, his canine teeth abnormally large. He took a small needle out of his pocket and pricked his finger. Then the first man pulled out a roll of parchment, on which the second man promptly signed his name with the small amount of blood.  
  
"And now that the deal has been made, I shall exit. Come, Wormtail."  
  
"Y...yes, sir." The man named Wormtail squeaked. They both stood and muttered a few words, and seemed to vanish into thin air.   
  
"Minions! The deal is sealed! Soon, we shall feast well!" The first man, who was tall, pale, and bearded, called out to over a hundred hooded figures. There were loud hisses from the crowd. "First we shall overturn Hogwarts and place in the hands of Master Voldemort, then we shall rule the night, and no one, the day! All we must do is follow his instructions. Does anyone have a problem with that?"  
  
"I do." A voice called out from the crowd, which immediately parted. Another hooded figure stepped forward. The others removed their hoods, baring their long teeth and giving it nasty looks, their faces pale in the dim light. Most people would be confused, but the lone figure knew what they were.  
  
Vampires.  
  
"Which one are you?" The bearded man asked with mild interest.  
  
"What business is it of yours? I'll be honest, I'm not one of yours."  
  
"You're not?" The man bellowed in shock. "Minions!"  
  
Before any one of the odd people could move in on the lone figure, he reached under his robes and revealed two semi-automatic pistols. Gunfire rang throughout the hall as bullets pierced bodies, which, not a moment later, dissolved into piles of smoking liquid. But the hooded figure was not the only one attacking. Several people in the back had began firing, also. And when they ran out of bullets, they each drew out long, silver swords, or wands from under their robes. The head vampire, who had spoken to his Minions, had already vanished.   
  
Several of the others, still "alive", had rushed forward to attack. However, the hooded knights were as skilled with their swords and wands as their pistols. Soon, the room was filled with the smoking liquid, and four men pulled off their robes to reveal shiny chain mail, each with a logo painted upon it with the words, THE SILVER BULLET FACTION.  
  
"Where is he? Where is the leader?"  
  
"He disapparated. We can't track him."  
  
"And just who the bloody hell is this Voldemort?"  
  
The other men gasped.  
  
"You said You-Know-Who's name?"  
  
"What, Vol-"  
  
"SHHH!" They all rasped in unison.   
  
"It's a long story. But I'll tell you now, don't say that name. It scares people out of their wits. Mind you, I nearly wet meself when I heard it was You-Know-Who making the deal."  
  
"What? Well, I don't really care as long as he's not a vampire. And we   
killed most of them."  
  
"That's not the point. We've failed the mission. Without killing the head vampire, we're sure he'll have new followers within a week."  
  
"What?" The first man choked.  
  
"That's right."  
  
"But... but you guys are wizards! Isn't there like... a spell or something you can use to..."  
  
"Only if they haven't drunk from the cup."  
  
"The... the cup?"  
  
"Sir?"  
  
The senior stepped forward. "Known as the Cursed Cup or The Goblet of the Damned. It is a cup filled with a blood, but of what, no one but a vampire knows. One sip and you can not be reversed."  
  
"Oh man, that's not good."  
  
"No. It's not. Right now, while the schools are out, top potion masters and dark arts fighters of the world are working on a cure. It's not looking too good."  
  
"Who's working on it?"  
  
"Well, you wouldn't know them. There's Phyllida Spore, Arsenius Jigger, Quentin Trimble, Remus Lupin, Gilderoy Lockhart was on the list for the convention until they found out he was a fraud a few years back, Of course Dumbledore is overseeing the operation, as well as the Ministry, oh, and I've forgotten... oh yeah, professor Severus Snape."  
  
"Snape, wasn't he a death eater?" One of the wizards remarked.  
  
"He used to be. Now, We're splitting up. I'd like to find some proof for the ministry."  
  
"What do we need to prove to them?"  
  
"Everything, my friend. Everything."  
  
***  
  
Harry Potter awoke with a jolt. His scar was burning just as bad as ever. He'd just had the most shocking dream. It had ended somewhere around Voldemort. And there were a lot of odd looking figures in cloaks. Dementors? Was Voldemort finally in Azkaban?  
  
No, he remembered. He disapperated. And the figures were too short. And then he remembered something else. Gunfire... something about a cup, and Snape...  
  
It was fading all too quickly. He shook it out of his mind and walked over to his window, when Hedwig fluttered in, munching on a remarkably large insect.   
  
"Morning." Harry yawned, as Hedwig finished up her breakfast. "What's this?" He pulled a letter of her leg. She gave a soft hoot and glided over to her cage. Harry opened the letter.  
  
Harry,   
  
I attached my next letter back to Hedwig because I don't want anyone becoming suspicious of the odd birds I've been sending you. I've kept in touch with Lupin, who has told me about the convention he is attending. There has been a lot of odd Vampire activity recently, especially within a large radius of Hogsmeade. I just want to tell you to be especially careful this year. Vampires are nothing to laugh at. They're about as bad as Dementors. So I'm warning you, don't go breaking the rules for any reason this year. Also, please tell me if you've heard anything about this. This is very important, so don't be afraid to tell me anything, got it?  
  
Keep in touch,  
Sirius  
  
  
This brought the dream back to Harry. Those figures were vampires. He didn't want to sound paranoid, but he remembered what happened last year, and this is how it started out. Dream. Scar burning. And he couldn't help but feel it was his fault that Cedric died. Maybe if he had said something, none of it would have happened...  
  
"I'll tell him. I've got to, don't I, Hedwig?" The snowy owl hooted softly. Harry got out a piece of parchment, and began to write.  
  
Dear Sirius,  
  
I don't want to sound paranoid, but after what happened last year, I feel I should tell you. I had another dream. There was Voldemort, and he'd been talking with this pale man. The man signed a paper with this red stuff, I think he cut his finger. Then Voldemort and Pettigrew Disapperated. There were also a lot of hooded figures, but then there was some gunfire, and several of them, well, melted. And then the four attackers talked about that convention, Lupin, Snape, a few of the authors of my schoolbooks, and something called the Goblet of the Damned or something. And Voldemort and the pale man had mentioned Hogwarts. I woke up, and my scar was really hurting. I know it sounds a bit paranoid and even stupid, but after what happened last year, I'm not so sure about anything anymore. Take care.  
  
~ Harry  
  
Yes, that would do. He just hoped he wouldn't get Sirius all worked up like last time. Even though last time, it turned out his dream was real...  
  
He tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and watched as she glided off into the dim morning.   
  
Thump! Thump! Someone knocked on his door.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You up yet, boy?" Uncle Vernon barked by way of morning greeting. Of course. Harry had forgotten that they needed to make a trip up to London, to the special tailor. Dudley's diet had been going well in a sense, well, in the sense that he at least hadn't gained any weight over the past year. But he hadn't lost a whole lot, either. Mrs. Weasley, the mother of Harry's best friend, Ron, had sent Harry a load of meat pies and a large cake, which had lasted him the whole summer. He couldn't wait until school. Unlike most normal kids, well, Harry was not normal. In the sense that he was a wizard. He had found out so on his eleventh birthday when he was visited by the schools gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid.   
  
His birthday... unlike most kids , Harry rarely looked forward to his birthday, which was never really celebrated by the Dursleys, anyway. But if he was correct, today was Saturday, so his birthday was in three days.   
  
"Well, are you up? Wake up!" Uncle Vernon boomed.  
  
"Oh, oh yes." Harry replied, and began to get dressed. He was putting on his left sneaker as he hopped one-footed down the stairs and was greeted by the smell of...  
  
Health food. Aunt Petunia was fixing an all grain breakfast and had put out four settings with skim milk.  
  
"I'm getting so sick of this." Uncle Vernon groaned at the bottom of the stairs. "I don't believe I haven't starved to death yet."  
  
"Ah, breakfast! Looks excellent!" Harry said loudly and smugly. Uncle Vernon groaned, but didn't dare say anything. The Dursley's were terrified of Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, hearing that he was a convicted murderer. Harry hadn't mentioned that Sirius was actually innocent. They constantly worried that Harry would tell Sirius they were treating him bad, and he would come after them and turn them into dung beetles or something. In the past few years, the tides had really turned against the Dursleys, and they had decided that they had better stop treating him so harshly. This, however, had been made up for in school, as Snape had gone from nasty to nightmare, and Malfoy was more irritating than dog droppings on the soles of your shoes (and worth about as much, as far as Harry was concerned).  
  
He finished his breakfast as fast as he could, so he could go upstairs to have some real food before they left. When he got up there, however, he stopped silent. There was a large barn owl perched on his windowsill. It dropped a letter from its beak, turned, and flew off. Harry picked up the letter and recognized it instantly, sporting a purple wax seal with a lion, an eagle, a badger, and snake all surrounding an H.   
  
That's funny, he thought, usually Hedwig brought his letter. Then again, It came rather early, and was a little thicker than usual. He opened it up, and pulled out several papers. One from professor McGonagall, welcoming him to the school, a list of books, and another paper, which Harry glanced at quickly. But then he did a double take. All future Hogsmeade visits will be canceled until further notice due to odd and dangerous vampire activity.  
  
This was just great. This really made his day. He sat down, pulled up a floorboard, and quickly downed half of a meat pie. He had just finished up when something knocked him flat on his back. At first he thought he had somehow survived a shot to the head from a stray hunters bullet or something, but then he saw Pigwidgeon zip around his head, and drop a letter twice as big as him into Harry's lap. He ripped it open.  
  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
We're going up to Diagon Alley today, and wondered if you wanted to meet us up there. Sorry it's on such short notice, but we just got our Hogwarts letters early, and mum wants to take us up there a.s.a.p. Oh, and we have a little something to show you. Take it easy.  
  
~Ron  
  
P.S. Did you hear? We can't go to Hogsmeade this year. Man, this really stinks.  
  
Harry took out a piece of paper and scratched down a reply, and tied it to Pigwidgeon, who promptly sped off.   
  
"Hurry up, boy!" Uncle Vernon's voice boomed from downstairs.  
  
"I wish he'd call me by my real name." Harry muttered, and hurried down the steps, out the door, and into the Dursley's car. As they were driving down the highway to London, Harry spoke up.   
  
"Er- Uncle Vernon?"  
  
"What?" He replied sharply.  
  
"My, uh, friends are meeting up today in London, and, well, we're going shopping for my school things," Uncle Vernon flinched. "And, well..."  
  
"Wait a second." Uncle Vernon cut him off. "What do you mean, we?"  
  
"I was about to ask if we could meet up and I could get my things with them..."  
  
"I'm not lending you any money." Uncle Vernon growled darkly.  
  
"I don't need any."  
  
"Then how will you afford it? Go around begging? Actually, how have you been able to pay for it at all these years?" Dudley chuckled at this.  
  
"Uh, well, wizards don't, er, have money..."  
  
"Oh come off it, I wouldn't believe a lie like that."  
  
"Well, you know I'm famous wherever I go. The shop owners always..."  
  
"All right, I don't need to hear any more ruddy lies! Just find your ruddy friends and go. We'll meet up at the Taylor shop where we're going."  
  
"All right." Harry sat back. There was something suspiciously cheery in Uncle Vernon's voice, though.  
  
When they reached London, Harry hopped out of the back seat and started to hurry off. London was a big place, but he didn't have much trouble finding his way to the Leaky Cauldron.   
  
"Harry!" He heard someone call as he entered. He looked over at the bar and saw the Weasleys and Hermione standing to greet him.  
  
"Come here, dear, sit down and have a drink with us." Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly.  
  
"Thank you very much, but I'm short. I haven't gone to Gringotts yet."  
  
"Oh, don't worry dear, it's on us." Mrs. Weasley pulled out her purse.  
  
"No, mum, it's on us. We owe Harry." Fred pulled a silver sickle out of his pocket. "What would you like, we owe you something."  
  
"Er, well, how about a butterbeer?"  
  
"Coming right up!" Tom the innkeeper flashed his toothless grin and handed Harry a tall, frothing mug.  
  
"Owe me for what?" Harry asked.  
  
"You'll see." George smiled. Soon, they all finished their drinks and headed down Diagon Alley. Straight down to Gringotts. Harry and the Weasleys showed one of the goblins their keys, and were soon rattling down the old track to their vaults. Harry's was first, and he went in, and stuffed his bag full of galleons and sickles and knuts, embarrassed at how his vault was so full compared to the Weasleys. He got in the cart and they began to ride down to the next vault. But when Mrs. Weasley opened the vault, Harry could hardly believe his eyes.  
  
The vault was piled to the ceiling with galleons and sickles. A heap of knuts bigger than an elephant was resting in the corner. It was even more full than his vault. But he wasn't in the least bit jealous.   
  
"This, Harry, we owe you for." Fred laughed.  
  
"What? H-h-how?" Harry asked.  
  
"The thousand Galleons prize money! We invested it in a joke shop and made a mint! Incredible! Well, we owe you at least a thousand, so..."  
  
"No, no." Harry smiled. "That's fine. I'm really happy for you. This is great!"  
  
"Oh, Harry, dear, thank you so much!" Mrs. Weasley called back to them as she filled her money bag.   
  
"No... no problem." He said, in a sense dazed. They went out to get their books from the shops, including The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five, An Anatomy of Common Magical Creatures, and How To Defend Yourself From Basic Hexes. They also stopped by Quality Quidditch Supplies, and Harry bought a special detachable drag reducer for his broom. He didn't really think he'd need to outstrip a jet, until he saw something that made him choke. Up on the windowsill was a brand new broom model.  
  
THE CONCORDE ULTIMATE  
Is the newest model in a line of special top-brand world class racing brooms. It has been designed to achieve a top speed of 230 MPH and is equipped with a magical speed controller at top speed levels of 100, 150, or 230 MPH. Able to accelerate from 0 to 200 in 1.255 seconds, surpassing all other current broom models. It is also equipped with a special flight control system that makes it incredibly easy to handle at top speed. Among its other features it includes an unbreakable braking charm, a no-drag grip, and an earth-warping unit to slow drops and dangerous descents.   
Price upon request.  
  
Harry gazed at the broom. It had a front with a magic no-drag grip, and the tail seemed to have a golden glow to it. He turned around to show Ron and stopped cold, both surprised and amused.  
  
Mrs. Weasley was putting down a pile of money as the man behind the counter boxed and handed three of the magnificent brooms to Fred, George, and Ron.  
  
"There you go. Have a nice day." The man opened up a large register.  
  
"Wow..." Harry gazed at the three. "Ron, why do you have one?"  
  
"Oh, didn't you hear? I've been approved to be Gryffindor's new keeper. Isn't it great? Maybe by my seventh year, I'll be captain, like I saw in that mirror our first year!" Harry was also surprised Ron remembered the mirror of erised.   
  
"Do you want one also, Harry?" George reached into his pocket.  
  
"No thanks." Harry said, stunned that he would just haul off and buy something so remarkably expensive.   
  
"Oh, all right."   
  
"I tell you what, though," Harry felt that the Firebolt meant too much to him. "I'll bet you I can leave Ron here in the dust on his first time." He smiled.  
  
"What makes you say that?" Ron asked.  
  
"I have a little experience, while you have a brand new broom. And Wood told me I have the perfect build for a seeker. Mind you, I said first time only."  
  
"I know. Hey, Harry, that reminds me. Wood gives his regards. He works for the Ministry's Recreation Division. He came by our house and tested my abilities. Didn't miss a single one, and then he wrote a letter suggesting me to Dumbledore. I wouldn't be surprised if Gryffindor is named one of the worlds most potential amateur teams by The Daily Profit this year! And Malfoy's father will never buy the team new brooms, since he only did it to get him on it. Hey, Harry, imagine the look on his face when he sees this!"  
  
Harry imagined it. It would be so funny he couldn't not expect it.  
  
"Time to go!" Mrs. Weasley walked back up to them. They all walked out into the street and back out of the leaky cauldron. When they got to the tailor shop to drop off Harry, however, there were no cars there. Harry hurried inside to the tailors desk.  
  
"Excuse me, sir, did a family just leave here? A couple dragging a funny looking hot air balloon?" Harry couldn't resist the joke, since the Dursleys couldn't hear.  
"Oh, yeah. But they left a half hour ago, when they were finished. I take it you don't get along well with your brother. You don't look much like him."  
  
"He's my cousin, actually."  
  
"Wait, is your name Harry?"  
  
"Yes." Harry replied. "How did you know?"   
  
"They left a note. Here." The man handed him a piece of paper. Harry read it.  
  
He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe the Dursleys would stoop so low. The note told him to stay with "that dumpy red haired woman" and that "he should stay with his own kind."  
  
"Is there a problem, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley walked up to him. "Is your family here?"  
  
"No. I can't believe they left."  
  
"Well, if you have permission, we would be delighted to have you over again this summer."  
  
"Yeah. Yeah, they... they pretty much gave me permission."   
  
"Oh, terrific! Let's go. What's that in your hand? A note they left you?"  
  
"Yeah. A very rude one, if you ask me." He tossed it in the trash. "Sorry I'm so grumpy... you know muggles... oops..." He glanced at the tailor.  
  
"Hey, kid, 's all right." He pulled a wand out of his desk drawer. "Those muggles are really nasty, you know? I made sure they'll be back in a month for my services again. Catch my drift?" He waved the wand around and put it back.   
  
And Harry laughed all the way back to the Weasleys.  



	2. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter   
and the   
Silver Bullet Faction  
  
OK. So the first chapter left you wanting more. A great action lead-in. But what's next? Now, presenting the second thrilling chapter in the newest Harry Potter book...  
  
When we last left Harry, the Dursleys had ditched him with the Weasleys and a very nasty letter, while a mysterious group of lone heroes foiled a dark and dangerous plot (or so they hope)...  
  
Chapter 2  
The Summoner and the Assault  
  
Harry landed in the fireplace coughing and dust covered. Man, he loved and hated floo powder at the same time. He felt the same way about the Dursleys minus the love part, which, when he thought about it, was sort of redundant.  
  
"Well, here we are. You'll be staying in my room like last time, I suppose." Ron landed in the chimney behind him.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose it'll be great." Harry muttered. "But what do I do about my stuff? It's all back at the Dursleys'. Even my Firebolt."  
  
"We'll just pay the Dursleys a little visit by floo powder, I suppose." Ron said.  
  
"But don't they have to be hooked up to the network?"  
  
"Oh, right. Well, Dad can't hook it up in one day. I guess we'd use a summoner."  
  
"A summoner?"  
  
"Yeah. It's a simple concept. It's just like a summoning charm. Except it's much more powerful. We'll do it now. Dad's got it in the basement, hold on." Ron ran off and came back a second later, carrying a large golden glove. "Put it on," He handed it to Harry. "And say, Accio! Then just say whatever you want to come to you."  
  
Harry put on the glove, lifted his hand, and...  
  
***  
  
Vernon Dursley was finally settling down for the first time after a long, very hard day. He picked up the untouched morning paper and began to open it when he heard a crash from the basement and a loud shriek from the kitchen. Aunt Petunia ran screaming into the den and ducked just as a large trunk sailed over her head. It slammed straight into the front door and knoced it aside in an array of splinters, shooting off into the sky.  
  
***  
  
"It'll be here in a little while." Ron said. "In the meantime, let's go test out my new broomstick."  
  
"Sure. Oh, wait, I've forgotten Hedwigs cage..."  
  
***  
  
Uncle Vernon had finally fit the door back in place when he heard another loud crash, and another scream, this time from upstairs. Dudley was rolling down the stairs like a bowling ball, when something long and gold shot straight down after him, and right toward Uncle Vernon.   
  
"Oh brother." He squeaked, and then Hedwigs cage slammed straight into his forehead, knocking him out.  
  
***  
  
"There." Ron said. "It should be along in a few hours. Wanna see that broomstick?"  
  
"Sure." Harry followed him outside.   
  
"I can't wait to be on the Quidditch tem this year. It'll be awesome! Us up there, in the air..."  
  
"...Beating the snot out of the Slytherins, Malfoy going insane..."  
  
"...Yeah. I just can't wait. Watch this." He pulled his broom out of its box, sleek and shiny, and mounted it. In an instant, he was off.  
  
"Man! No kidding! I figured I could beat him just once on my Firebolt, but whoa! That's ludicrous!" Ron ripped straight through the air, doing a few laps around his house, and then touched down.  
  
"Incredible!" Harry stared at Ron on the broom. "How fast was that?"  
  
"I think about max speed. Mind you, It's scary up there. But I think I could handle a sudden goal shot."  
  
"Yeah, wow. I might not be able to beat you after all."   
  
"Oh, you still on for the race, when your broom gets here?"  
  
"Yeah, I suppose. Could I... have a go?"  
  
"Sure. If you can handle it." Harry looked at Ron, who, instead of having a competitive smirk on his face, looked really serious. "I'm serious, It's a tough handle. I nearly fell off twice."  
  
Harry got up on it. Immediately he kicked off and shot almost straight up, and in a matter of seconds, Ron was just a speck. He pointed the nose sharply downward, and in less than three seconds was hovering over the Weasleys house.   
  
The sky was getting dim, but before he came down, he glimpsed something in the distance. His trunk?  
  
No, he thought as he looked closer. It was moving-  
  
"Hedwig!" He said with surprise. She was back already. She glided over to him and alighted on his forearm. He pulled a letter off of her leg with one hand, and began to read it while holding onto the broom.   
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I caught up with Hedwig in midair. I stopped just long enough to read your letter and scratch one back. Listen to me very carefully. Do not at any cost leave the Hogwarts grounds this year. You are in very grave danger. I've contacted an old friend at the Silver Bullet Faction and he's confirmed it. You're right-Voldemort is back. Be careful around everyone. Trust only Dumbledore and members of the Silver Bullet Faction-they'll have a cross around their necks, usually wearing chain male, and a silver band around their arm with spikes. Watch your back this year, Harry.  
  
~ Sirius  
  
Harry began to feel sick as he finished up the letter. He also remembered who those people were in his dream.   
  
"Just great." He murmured. "Well Hedwig, looks like another normal year ahead of us at Hogwarts."   
  
"Harry?" Ron called and came around the side of the house. "Harry? You all right?"  
  
Harry looked at the letter. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He began to glide down on the broomstick.  
  
"Hey, What's that?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"That letter."  
  
"You read it." Harry handed it to him. "I'm going in, If it's all right. It's getting dark."  
  
"Uh, sure. Mum's finished dinner by now, we're having steak and mashed potatoes, I hope..." Ron stopped dead silent as he read the letter. "Oh... oh... damn it, look. Oh, no, Harry, we've got to tell mum. This is really not good."  
  
"I know. I think we should write Dumbledore, also. In case he doesn't know."  
  
"Harry, what if they come to get us tonight?"  
  
"Maybe... maybe your dad can enchant your house. I don't know, but I'm not to worried. I mean, the chances of that are like the chances of Voldemort showing up at the Dursleys and blowing me to smithereens, don't you think?"  
  
"Right, I guess. But all the same. And we should mail this letter to Dumbledore with an explanation."  
  
"Right, we'd better do it now. Let's go in. Dad should be home any second." Sure enough, when they went inside, Mr. Weasley appeared in the fireplace, covered with soot.  
  
"Dad, we have to show you something." Ron told him immediately.  
  
"Right now?" Mr. Weasley moaned. "It's been the longest day at the Ministry, can it wait?"  
  
"No, it can't. This is really important." Ron handed him the letter from Sirius.  
  
"All right..." He glanced over the letter. "Molly."  
  
"Yes dear?" Mrs. Weasley strode into the room.  
  
"Boys, you can start dinner with the rest of the family, Molly, we have to talk alone."  
  
"Why dear, whatever is the matter?"  
  
"Let's just go upstairs, now. Please."  
  
"Er- Mister Weasley?" Harry asked. "Could I have my letter back? I need to mail it to Dumbledore."  
  
"Certainly, Harry." Mr. Weasley said solemnly, and handed him the letter. "Now, you boys go and eat."  
  
"Uh, dad, what if, well, what if they come for us? What if..."  
  
"You don't have to worry, Ron, a Vampire can't come into your home unless you invite it in. Now go eat."  
  
"Oh... all right." They both left the stern-faced Mr. Weasley to go upstairs, and sat down at the table.  
  
"Where's Percy?" Harry looked over at his empty spot.  
  
"Oh, he's out with Bill and Charlie. They should be back-oh look!" Ron pointed at the clock, where Bill, Charlie, and Percy's hands pointed at home. A moment later, they strode in the back door.   
  
"How's it going?" Bill took a seat.  
  
"Harry, old boy, how are you? Simply splendid!" Percy smiled.  
  
"Yes, how have you been, Harry, It's simply spiffing to see you!" Fred grabbed his hand and shook it, while giving him a look that plainly said 'he still hasn't got the hint' with a quick glance in Percy's direction.  
  
They all sat down and began to eat. Everything was going fine until Percy reached for the gravy, and let out a loud shriek.  
  
Out of the gravy boat, instead of gravy, came a thick, red liquid. Suddenly, everyone's goblets toppled, spilling milk everywhere, ten stood up again, to be replaced with the same liquid. And to top it all off, as everyone stood and backed away from the table, the meat began to ooze it, also.  
  
"Oh man, the steak looks a little... underdone." Charlie gasped.  
  
"What the hell is going on here? Is this one of your jokes?" Bill roared at Fred and George.  
  
"We don't know anything about it!" They replied in unison.  
  
"What? What's going on here?" A voice said from behind them. They turned to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley standing there.  
  
"There's blood everywhere! What's going on?" Bill asked.  
  
"Shit" Mr. Weasley muttered.  
  
"Arthur! Watch your language!"  
  
"Don't you see? This is just great, Molly! Look at this! All right, everyone! You're all sleeping in the same room tonight. Ginny, you're with us. Do not open any windows! And no one leaves the house!" Mr. Weasley roared, and stormed off.  
  
"I've never seen dad this worked up and angry." Ron muttered to Harry.  
  
"Your father is just scared." Mrs. Weasley began to collect up the plates. "But I don't blame him. Harry, I think you'd better go and write that letter. This is shaping up to be a bad day."  
  
"Mum... what does this mean?" Percy asked.  
  
"He must be scared. He hasn't called mum 'mum' in years." Ron told Harry. Percy didn't even frown.  
  
"It's nothing, dear, I just didn't cook the steak right." She said without looking at him.  
  
"Oh, Molly, come off it." Mr. Weasley entered the room. "Kids, there's no point in trying to lie to you, there has been a lot of strange activity recently involving Vampires." They all gasped. "However, there is nothing to fear as long as you do not invite anyone into the house. And do not leave the windows open."  
  
This is my fault, Harry thought at once, They're after me and my being here is endangering the Weasleys.  
  
Almost as if Mr. Weasley could read his thoughts, he immediately objected. "Harry, I know it was you who got the letter, but rest assured, this is none of your fault."  
  
"Oh... okay." Harry murmured.  
  
"I've already contacted the ministry. They're on the lookout for any other suspicious activity."  
  
"Come on, Harry, let's go up to my room and write to Dumbledore." Ron said, still shaken.  
  
"Right." Harry followed him up the stairs, and to Rons room, where Hedwig had perched upon a bar on Pigwidgeons cage. Ron handed him a piece of parchment, and he began to write.  
  
Dear Professor Dumbledore,  
  
I suppose you have heard about the unusual vampire activity lately. It happens to be that just before I got first wind of it, I'd had a dream, involving Voldemort enlisting the help of the Vampires. Then he disapperated. But after that, four men had came out of a crowd of hooded figures and killed them all. But the leader disapperated, also. And I woke up, with my scar hurting. I thought it was all just a dream until I got a letter from Sirius about the Vampire activity, and I wrote him. Then he sent me this reply. I don't want to sound paranoid, but just before I wrote to you, while we were eating, everything seemed to fill with blood. Now everyone is afraid. I just wanted to let you know.  
  
Sincerely,   
Harry  
  
"There, that would do." Harry said, and stuffed his and Sirius' letters in an envelope, and tied it to Hedwig. "Go to Dumbledore."  
  
She gave a soft hoot and fluttered out the window into the night.  
  
***  
  
Donald Knots stared into his cup, and downed the last of his coffee. It had been a long night at the Silver Bullet Faction Headquarters, one of the most well hidden headquarters of the ministry.  
  
"How's everything been, Don?" His partner, Reg, walked up behind him.  
  
"Just fine for me. Them damn bloodsuckers-there's been another attack."  
  
"Oh, really? That sucks. Is that why you're working so late?"  
  
"Yeah, It was a muggle attack, Reg, they're everywhere. This so far has been the biggest incident since that party in that castle near Hogsmeade forty years ago. I don't know why I'm even here any more."  
  
"Yeah, I know, It's been a long night. I made some more coffee."  
  
"Coffee won't do it. After thirty three years in this tough job, I don't know If I have it in me to keep going."  
  
FWOOSH!  
  
"What was that?" Reg looked over at the fireplace. "Oh, Arthur! How are you? You scared me there." Arthur Weasley's face was frowning out of the yellow-greenish glow of the flames.  
  
"Really bad news, Reg, Donald. It so happens that while my family was eating, everything on their plates and in their cups began secreting blood."  
  
"Oh, what a shock that must have been. Are they all right?"  
  
"Yes, But this is your area of expertise. What does it mean?"  
  
"Well, I can't really tell you that except you're probably being harassed by a vampire."  
  
"I knew that. But what else? I'm worried."  
  
"Arthur, old man, calm down. Now listen, Don't let anyone in your house. Have you contacted the Ministry?"  
  
"Yes. They'll be sending us security teams and cars to take us to King's Cross in London. But my children..."  
  
"Could be in no safer hands than those of Albus Dumbledore." Reg remarked.  
  
"Did Sirius black contact you?"  
  
"Yes, he did." Ronald replied.  
  
"Sirius Black? You've talked to him?" Reg stared at him.  
  
"Reg, relax. Trust me, he's been innocent all along. He's not crazy, all right?"  
  
"All right. Whatever the both of you say."  
  
"Anyway, he's on his way up here. Come to help out. Maybe Dumbledore asked him to." Donald told them.  
  
"Yeah, I heard. Good."  
  
"Donald, just... don't leave your house until the ministry picks you up. At daytime."  
  
"I know. Thanks for your help." Arthur Weasleys head disappeared, and the flames returned their normal color.  
  
"No problem." Reg muttered.  
  
"Well, notify security we're leaving, all right?" Donald said.  
  
"Yeah, they know. I already told them I was."  
  
"All right, I'm coming."  
  
"But... why haven't they contacted me back to clear me?"  
  
"I don't know. Let's go find out."  
  
Suddenly, the flames died out without a wisp of wind.  
"What... what's going on here?" Reg exclaimed.  
  
"Do you have you're wand?"  
  
"No! You?"  
  
"No!"  
  
In the darkness, they heard something shudder ahead. A doorknob. The entrance to the room slowly opened.  
  
"Oh no." Donald gasped. "They're here."  



	3. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter   
And the  
Silver Bullet Faction  
  
When we last left Harry, he and the Weasleys appeared to be having a little trouble with vampires. Meanwhile, at the Silver Bullet Faction Headquarters, Donald Knots and his partner Reg were paid an unexpected visit...  
  
Chapter 3  
King's Cross  
  
The sunlight poured into the smeared window, waking Harry. Bill and Charlie had left the day after Harry's birthday, which, due to adversities, was not celebrated extravagantly. Everyone was still scared stiff about the attacks that had occurred, but got around to sleeping into their own rooms.  
  
"All right, everyone up." Mr. Weasley called down from the hall.   
  
"Oh, yeah." Harry muttered. Today they went to Kings Cross to board the Hogwarts express. He got up to get dressed and hurried downstairs for breakfast.  
  
Mrs. Weasley greeted him with a plate piled with toast and eggs and bacon.   
  
"Hurry up, boys, the Ministry will be here soon! Does everyone have their stuff packed up?" He glanced at Harry. They didn't mind when his trunk arrived the next day, but were a little uneasy when Hedwig's cage came with a spot of blood on it.  
  
Thump! Thump!  
  
"That's them, they're here! Get your things out!" Mr. Weasley was a lot more fussy than usual (and he usually was never). Especially when he got wind of...  
  
He opened the door and jumped back.  
  
"Reg! Donald! What are you doing here!"  
  
"We're with the ministry to brief you on what's been happening... and part of your security."  
  
"But... but I heard the Faction Headquarters was attacked just after I last talked to you."  
  
"Yes. I didn't have my wand on me, But I'm glad that Muggle that works with us showed me how to use that wand thing they call a 'gun'." Reg said.  
  
"Yeah, I had it in my desk. Honestly, sometimes they're pretty smart. But the cars are out here and-what the hell are you doing?" He stared at a cross Mr. Weasley was pulling out of his coat. "Arthur, I'm walking in broad daylight, you know if I was a vampire I'd be fried."  
  
"Oh, yeah... I'm sorry, I'm just really jumpy about the last few days."  
  
"I understand. But have you noticed-Muggles, especially the children, seem to know more about magical creatures than us at times? I mean, they even have games and things, and we have to teach our kids about it."  
  
"Yeah, I know. Weird. But can you give us some help with these trunks? We're ready to go now." Mr. Weasley began to lug a trunk, and Harry came to help. Soon they were all loaded up and drove off away from The Burrow.  
  
"So Arthur, we want you to be on the lookout even and especially when you're having a raid. Anything you might think may be linked to these events, don't hesitate to show us."  
  
"And the ministry?"  
  
"They're on it. After the attack, they can see that something is going on. And anything you may think may link the vampires to You-Know-Who, show them immediately. Fudge looks down on the Faction, and hardly believes us."  
  
"I see. All right, I'll see what I can do. The Malfoys-maybe we can get them. They were in league with You-Know-Who. My son told me about a passage under their drawing room. How he found out, I have barely a clue. But I'm sure we'll find out."  
  
"Good, Arthur. Because we really need the Ministry's cooperation. And we're running out of time-fast.  
  
***  
  
"Garef," The head in the green flames spoke, "Whatcha doing?"  
  
"Nothing," The tall, bearded vampire said. "Just chillin' out. Having some Blud(tm)."  
  
"True, true."  
  
"Hang on, someone else's on the other line." Another head in the fireplace appeared.  
  
"Wasabi?" The second guy smiled.  
  
"WASABI!!" Garef yelled.  
  
"WASABI!!!" The third guy laughed, with his tongue sticking out.  
  
"Hang on." Garef told them. "Hey, Bern!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Pick up the phone!"  
  
The second Vampire put his head in another fireplace, and it appeared in the first.  
  
"WASABI!" The second one yelled.  
  
"WASABI!" Bern replied.  
  
"WASABI!!!" Garef laughed.  
  
"WAAASAAABIII!" The fourth guy said.  
  
"Heh... later guys."  
  
"Later." Bern disappeared.   
  
"Later." The second guys head vanished.  
  
"So," Garef said to the first guy. "Whatcha doing?"  
  
"Chilling out. Having a Blud(tm)."  
  
"True, true."  
  
***  
  
Harry took a deep breath and pushed his trolley toward platform nine and three quarters. He was pretty used to doing this, but this time it seemed different. He knew there would be danger at Hogwarts this year, but what he was afraid of most was someone like Dobby making the barrier solid again. For some reason, Mrs. Weasley told Ron that he had to help Harry push the trolley, even though Harry insisted it was easy. It turns out a muggle had leaned against the barrier and fallen in, and they had to use memory charms to cover it up. Now the barrier was enchanted so that you could only enter with a trolley, which they knew nobody who didn't know about the barrier wouldn't try to crash it.  
  
Harry loaded his trunk into their usual compartment, and then they waited for the scarlet train to start moving. Mrs. Weasley gave Ron, Ginny, and the twins each a bag of money to buy sweets from the witch pushing the candy cart down the aisle.   
  
Hermione joined them and they took their seats. They felt the train vibrate as it began to rumble down the track.  
  
Almost immediately, they heard footsteps in the aisle. Ron got up and looked down it.  
  
"It's Malfoy. And he looks hellbent on revenge. He's got his wand out."  
  
"Crabbe and Goyle?"  
  
"You know them, even if they could figure out how to use a wand, they wouldn't need it."  
  
"Well, shut the compartment door. Wands out." Ron and Hermione took theirs out to cover Harry while he opened his trunk to get his wand.   
  
Draco strutted up right outside the door and stopped. Through the textured glass, Harry could see him raise and arm, and snap his fingers.   
  
Crabbe grabbed the door and flung it open so fast it shattered.  
  
"Stupefy!" Draco shouted madly, and Ron and Hermione fell back unconscious. Harry stared in shock.  
  
"Now for you, Potter!" He aimed the wand, and Harry didn't have his. But he was a fast thinker. He grabbed the biggest piece of glass he could find and raised it in front of him.  
  
"Stupefy!" Draco shouted again. A crimson ray of light split the air, and hit the glass Harry held. It divided into about twenty beams, all hitting Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.  
  
"That's the second time I've ever seen a piece of glass refract a spell." A voice said. "The first time, I ended up killing two dark vizards."  
  
"Who?" Harry looked outside the compartment. There was no one there. Someone tapped his shoulder.  
  
He jumped. There, behind him, stood a muscular, dark haired man with a mustache.  
  
"Good morning. I'm Doctor Ivan String, your new Defense Against zhe Dark Arts teacher." He said with a Russian accent.  
  
"Er- hello. I'm Harry. Harry Potter." He held out his hand, and Doctor String shook it.  
  
"It appears you're friends vere not so lucky. But zhat vas a very smart thing you did. I admire cleverness. That's vhy this year, you'll behaving double defense lessons with zhe Ravenclaws."  
  
"Really?" Harry just might get to see Cho in his classes.  
  
"Zhat, and minor funding problems." Doctor string laughed. "But anyvay." He raised his wand. "Ennervate!" He tapped Ron and Hermione. Then he pointed it at the door. "Reparo!" The glass reformed.   
  
"Wow, who's this guy? Did he take out Malfoy?" Ron glanced up.  
  
"I am Ivan String, your new Defense Against zhe Dark Arts Teacher. And your very clever friend here vas the von who Mister Malfoy."  
  
"Wow, Harry, you don't even have your wand."  
  
"Professor String?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What were you talking about, the last time you saw a spell refracted?"  
  
"Oh, Vell, I vas lucky enough to have a piece of glass jammed in my vist vhen a dark vizard vas about to perform zhe Kedavra curse on me. It bounced back onto him and his partner. I'm an auror, you know."  
  
"Oh, wow. Last year professor Moody said I was the only one who survived it."  
  
"I read about zhat in zhe Daily Profit. Vasn't he a phony?"  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
"Vell, I can't vait to begin teaching you zis year. I believe you have covered curses and dangerous creatures, so this year ve vill be vorking on Dark Demihumans."  
  
"Dark Demihumans?"  
  
"Yes. Vampires, elves, goblins, dark versions of them. Bevare, It vill be a tough year." Doctor String walked out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were all stirring.   
  
"I'll confiscate these until you can find something better to do than hurt people vith zhem! Expelliarmus!" String shouted, and Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyles wands flew up off the floor, and he caught them.  
  
"Goodbye." Professor String suddenly disappeared.  
  
"Cool. I hope he teaches us how to do that." Ron said.  
  
***  
  
Garef walked into the small parlor and looked up.  
  
"Bern, I really like Japanese food, but I'm starting to crave blood again, you know."  
  
"Yeah, I know, Garef." His friend, Bern said. "We can start collecting minions for you tonight."  
  
"Yeah. After dinner. I'm glad you found an all night Japanese food joint."  
  
"Here your Herbal tea, sir, he handed Bern a steaming cup. "And here your wasabi." He set a plate in front of Garef."  
  
"Wasabi?"  
  
"Wasabi." The waiter replied.  
  
"Wasabi?" Bern asked.  
  
"WASABI!" Garef shouted over to the front counter.  
  
"WASABI!!!" The three chefs behind the counter smiled.  
  
"WASABI!" Bern laughed.  
  
"WASABI!" The waiter yelled.  
  
"WASABI!" The chefs behind the counter gave them thumbs up.  
  
"WAAASAAABIII!" Garef laughed, and bared his teeth.  
  
***  
  
The Hogwart's express charged on down the tracks passing the hot country afternoon by. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all bought a large quantity of sweets, including chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's every flavor beans, cauldron cakes, and various other interesting sweet items. They sat around eating and drinking iced pumpkin juice (new-in a convenient can, inspired by a muggle idea! Twelve knuts a can wherever it's sold!)   
  
"Pah pah pah pah pah, pah pah pah pah pah, the joy of pumpkin..."  
  
"Ron, what are you singing?" Harry asked.  
  
"Sorry, nothing." He blushed.  
  
Beep!  
  
"What's that?" Harry looked over at Hermione.  
  
"Oh, I got it in Diagon alley! It's a Magicom. You just say whosever name you want to talk to, and it hooks you up with them! That is, if they have one." She pulled out what looked like a muggle cell phone. "But I bought two, and I just lost te other today. I wonder where it is?"  
  
Ring!  
  
"Don't get it, Hermione." Ron mumbled. Hermione picked up the phone and didn't heed his words.  
  
"Hello." She said.  
  
"Meow!"  
  
"Crookshanks!"  
  
"Meow-meow-meow-meow, meow-meow-meow-meow, meow- meow-meow-meow-meow-meow-meow-meow!"  
  
"Crookshanks!" She laughed again.  
  
"Meow, meow, meow!"  
  
"What did she have to say?"  
  
"I think she's hungry."  
  
"Hey, there it is!" Ron pointed out the window. In the distance was Hogwarts castle.  
  
"Hey, I just thought of something. Isn't Hogwarts a type of flower... didn't anyone know that?" Hermione said. They all stared in silence.  
  
"Anyway..." Harry muttered.  
The train stopped abruptly, and they began to unload their trunks. As they crossed the bridge, they watched the first years rowing across the river with Hagrid in the rowboats.  
  
"Wow. Remember when we first did this?" Harry looked down.  
  
"Yeah. Five years ago. I can't wait to see the sorting."  
  
"It's happening in a few minutes. Come on." They entered the great hall and met Nearly Headless Nick reading a magazine.  
  
"What's that you're reading, Nick?"  
  
"General interest magazines." Nick showed them the issue. "Did you hear? G.Y.S.T.E. dropped dead at almost a hundred and forty points yesterday."  
  
"Oh, man... that really stinks. Er- we gotta go." Harry said, and hurried off with Ron and Hermione, wondering why ghosts invested in stocks, or, read magazines, for that matter. His question was half answered when he passed Professor Flitwick telling off peeves for leaving around copies of Playghost, undoubtedly hoping the students would see the trash.   
  
They entered the great hall and sat down just in time for the sorting. Professor McGonaggall brought in the stool and sat the hat upon it, which ripped open a wide mouth at the brim and began to speak...  
  
"Welcome, one and all, to your first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, normally, I would rip open and sing a cheesy-ass song, but do you know what it's like to do the same thing for all eternity, making up these stupid songs? I thought this year, we'd spice things up!!! Professor!" McGonagall walked forward ad pulled out her wand, tapped it against the hat, and muttered "Sonorus!"  
  
Immediately, the great hall boomed with the hat's voice.  
  
"WASUP Y'ALL? LE'S RAISE DA ROOF!!!" The crowd actually stood and screamed with excitement. A small group in the front started to jump up and down as the hat began its song.  
  
"WHATUP? WHATUP? WHATUP? WHATUP?  
NOW MY RHYMES BE BURNIN'  
WHILE 'DIS YEAR YOU BE LEARNIN'  
AND YOUR HEADS BE TURNIN'  
NOW IS YO STOMACH CHURNIN'?  
NOW SCREAM!"  
"YEAH!"  
"NOW SCREAM!"  
"YEEEAAAHHH!!!"  
"'DAS RIGHT, YA'LL!  
I'M DA SORTIN' HAT  
AND I CAN BUSTA RHYME PHAT  
HOGWARTS IS WHERE IT'S AT  
WHAT ABOUT THAT?  
NOW IN GRYFFINDOR  
DWELL THE LOUD AND THE BRAVE!  
HUFFLEPUFF'S SO TOUGH  
EVEN THE FIRST YEAR BOYS SHAVE!  
RAVENCLAW  
NO TEST THOSE DUDES CAN'T LICK!  
AS FOR SLYTHERIN  
ONLY ONE WORD-SLICK!*  
NOW THE HOGWARTS STUDENTS CAN GET DOWN  
ALL THE WAY TO THE GROUND!  
JUMP UP JUMP UP AND GET DOWN  
ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE GROUND!  
YEAH, JUMP JUMP JUMP, YEAH, JUMP JUMP JUMP!"  
  
* Note; This author does not in any way support Slytherin, Voldemort, or any of their agents or affiliates.   
  
The great hall erupted in cheers as the sorting hat finished its song.  
  
"Thanks, y'all! You're a great audience from the a-u-d to the i-e-n-c-e! Now, without further ado, I'm presenting to you, the sorting!!!"  
  
"Arsenic, Cyan!"  
  
"Slytherin!" The hat shouted, and the girl hurried off.  
  
"Assonite, Will!" The boy walked up to the front and put on the hat.  
  
"Slytherin!" The hat bellowed again.  
  
"Cranial, Richard!"  
  
"SLYTHERIN!" The hat screeched, and the boy walked off to the Slytherin table with a smug smirk. Man, everyone's becoming a Slytherin, Harry thought, We may not have any new Gryffindors this year.  
  
"Ellis, Marv!" McGonaggall shouted. A handsome first year stepped up and pulled out a long white stick.  
  
"He bought it!" Fred said beside Harry. "That's our new joke product, Mentos. It freshens your breath, and gives you whatever you want when you eat one!"  
  
The boy threw his head back and one of the mints fell in his mouth. Suddenly a voice boomed...  
  
"...Nothing gets to you, staying fresh, staying cool, and Mentos freshens all the time..."  
  
The boy sat down and put on the hat.  
  
"...fresh is better, Mentos freshens..."  
  
The boy and the hat both seemed to be waiting for the song to end.  
  
"...and Mentos freshens all the time!"  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat announced. The boy grinned, and the shine almost literally blinded Harry.  
  
"...Mentos, the freshmaker!" The voice finished. Everyone clapped, and the boy joined the Gryffindor table. After that, the numbers began to even out. The next boy (Fischer, Ray) walked up. He looked quite nervous, and said a little prayer. Suddenly a light shone and a voice boomed down from the enchanted ceiling.  
  
"Don't be afraid. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. If you build it, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."   
  
"Excuse me?" Ray looked up. "Sorry, but I think you've got the wrong Ray. I'm Ray Fischer, and I'm praying to become a Gryffindor."  
  
"Oh, sorry. Can't help you there. Er- just put the hat on. Bye." The light disappeared.  
  
"Well that was strange." Ray put the hat on, which, to his relief, shouted Gryffindor.  
  
  
  
The numbers evened out, ending with Zipper, Jim becoming a Hufflepuff. Then the plates began to fill themselves with food.  
  
Harry began to pile several slices of beef onto his plate, while Ron dug into the mashed potatoes. All around him buzzed the excitement of the new year. After the feast, the plates cleared themselves and filled with eclairs, ice cream, Jell-O, doughnuts, fudge blocks, brownies, treacle, and trifle. These everyone promptly began to load down their plates with.  
  
When the meal was totally over, the plates themselves vanished, and the hall silenced as the Headmaster Dumbledore began to speak.  
  
"I have a few announcements to make for this year. First off, for your safety, we have reluctantly cancelled all Hogsmeade visits until further notice.  
  
"Next, I want all students to be in the castle before dark. I don't care about excuses. There is a little crisis we are having at this point and this rule will be strictly enforced.  
  
"Finally, I wish you all a safe and enjoyable year. I am again very sorry about all of this, but it must be done for your own safety. Prefects, please lead your houses back to their dorms."  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the new Gryffindor prefect up to the common rooms. Harry and Ron made their way up the stairs to their dorms, which was now marked with a large "5" on it. Inside, they found their trunks at the foot of their beds, and Hedwig snoozing in her cage.   
  
Dean, Seamus, and Neville all came in after them, and none of them took more than a minute to get in their beds and fall asleep, without care, without concern of any of Dumbledore's remarks. None of them thought about the possibility of the terrible chain of events that are to occur this year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  



	4. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter  
And the   
Silver Bullet Faction  
  
When we last left Harry, our heroes were settling down after their warm welcome to Hogwarts, complete with a chapter peppered with hilarious anecdotes and "selling out" which I promise you no more of. (Who liked the sorting hat rap? Please put it in your review if you do.)  
  
Chapter 4  
The Defense Teacher  
  
Harry opened his eyes. He'd just had the most horrible dream. Dark figures, staring at him, leering and laughing. And a thick, dark liquid was rising up to his soles, his ankles, his knees...  
  
He hopped out of his bed and got dressed, then made his way down to the common room, and then to the great hall, where everyone was gathered for breakfast.  
  
Harry sat down by Ron and they were each handed their schedule sheets.   
  
"We've now got Care of Magical creatures at eleven in the morning. And Divination has been moved back to nine. Oh, Defense against the dark arts is at one, I can't wait to meet that new teacher. I wonder if he'll make it the whole year."  
  
"We'll just get a new one next year. In fact, I'll bet you anything he doesn't make it." Harry responded.  
  
"Seriously?" Ron asked him. "How about twenty?"  
  
"Not really. But you never know." Harry reached for the plate of eggs.  
  
"I wish we could skip divination, but it's come in handy. This summer I was able to tell ahead that Fred was going to slip one of their jokes into my soup, so I switched our bowls and his mouth itched for a month with chancre sores." Ron laughed as the morning mail came. Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder, and he gave her a bit of toast before she flew off to the owelry.  
  
"Well, let's get going." Harry said as he polished off his plate. "What are we going to learn this year in Divination?"  
  
"I was told we're supposed to learn a few newer things, including dream telling. It's a power even a few muggles are able to use, though not as well."   
  
They met up with a small group outside of Professor Trelawny's room, when the trapdoor on the ceiling opened and a long, silver ladder came down. When Harry reached the top, he was immediately overwhelmed by the heat and the strong smell of perfume.   
  
"Welcome, students." Professor Trelawny's mystical voice greeted them. "This year in Divination, you will be learning many newer methods of telling the future. One of them is an art that almost anyone can use, but is best with true seers. Today you will learn of how your inner eye works when you are departed from conscious and the material world."  
  
As always, the whole class (except for Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown) had only, as Ron once had put it, "Half a frickin' clue what the old bat was talking about."  
  
"Now children, before we begin, I would like to give you a little information that is not exactly in my field. A few very special muggles are somewhat susceptible to the future in their dreams. They normally refer to the inner eye as the 'superconscience' and have formulated theories in a muggle sort of magic, known as 'science' that are partially true. I have found this in fact rather interesting that they have been able to scratch the surface of only one of the most complex fields of magic. Now, we will all start by pairing up. You should have had Seeing With Your Eyes Shut on your book list. I want you to start by evaluating each other's dreams. Use the chart in the back of your books to identify what you remember."  
  
"So what did you see last night?" Ron deadpanned.  
  
"Er, can we just pretend to be doing it together? I'd rather not, no offense..."  
  
"Same here. You know."   
  
"Yeah, I do." Harry began to read the book.   
  
***  
  
By the end of the class, Harry knew absolutely nothing about his dream except the dark figures either being 'tough trials' or 'enemies'. But where would the warm liquid come from? Maybe the Slytherins were planning to boil him alive or something. Whatever it was, he totally forgot about it when he went to care of magical creatures. It was going to be Hagrid's usual lineup of semi or absolutely lethal creatures. When he reached the hut, he noticed a large paddock composed of four sticks on a base, and in it...  
  
"Yep!" Hagrid clapped his hand on Harry's shoulder from behind. "We'll be learning about Chimera's this month. Interestin' creatures, but tough ter' handle. Don' worry, I trust ye'h." He said to Harry.  
  
"How... how is he staying in there?"  
  
"Strong magical field. Shackler Turnkey. The best brand you can get, usually to hold the strongest creatures."  
  
The Chimera had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon.  
  
"He's rather young, so he can't breathe fire yet."  
  
"Breath fire?" Ron looked up at Hagrid with a look of worry.  
  
"Don't be afraid. We won't be raising him, they take centuries ter' mature."   
  
"Just what the heck is that ugly thing?" A cold voice drawled behind them. Who else but Draco Malfoy swaggered up behind them.  
  
"Chimeras!" Hagrid said with delight. This seemed odd the way he was talking to Malfoy, but then he added. "And if you think you aren't going to be taking care of it for a grade, think again, because yeh'll fail my class for the year if you don't. That goes for all of yeh'." He directed at all of the Slytherins. Harry found this fair, as Snape was tenfold times more unfair.  
  
The lesson was great. They each took turns petting the Chimera and got it to trust them, even Neville, but excluding Malfoy, when it spit a large wad of slime in his hand.   
  
After that, they walked back up to the castle, and into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.  
  
"Good afternoon." Professor String did not look up from his desk.   
  
"Uh, hi." Ron took his seat. Harry sat down, and watched as several Ravenclaws and Gryffindors entered the room. When everyone had sat down, Professor String stood.  
  
"Aurors." He began. "Zis year ve vill be covering dark demihumans. However, first I would like to know. Who of you in here are related to any Aurors or the like, that have defeated a dark wizard or demihuman?"  
  
Neville mumbled and raised his hand.  
  
"Neville Longbottom?" String looked at him. "I knew you father, Frank. I am sorry about vat happened... ve vere very good friends."  
  
"Y-yeah." Neville mumbled.  
  
"Good man, he vas. Anyvone else?" A few of the kids raised their hands. He talked to each one of them and listened to their stories.  
  
Harry glanced back at Cho, who had her hand down. That would be really impressive if I was related to one of the greatest aurors of all time, he thought.  
  
"Vell, you all do come from an interesting line of Aurors, yes, it seems. But today I vill tell you of the greatest defeats of all time. By a muggle. And ve have von of ze descendants in zis room right now."  
  
"Ze man, Johnathan Harker, ze von who defeated Count Dracula himself. He later had a child, a son, who had a son, which went on for a few generations, until the muggle family bore a young girl who vas a vizard. She married a man named James Potter."  
  
Everyone gasped.  
  
"You know, Harry, I knew your father and mother. After I met you I consulted a Genealogist, who happened to work part time for a group called ze Silver Bullet Faction. And I found out your father vas never lying. He married ze descendant of Harker."  
  
"Well that's something else." Ron said.  
  
"Aunt Petunia never did tell me her maiden name." Harry glanced back at Cho. She gave him a studying look.  
  
"Vell, now ve vill get on vith ze lesson. I vill be teaching you about dark demihumans. Can anyvone tell me a type of dark Demihumans?"  
  
Several of the students raised their hands.   
  
"Miss- er- Hermione?" String looked at a seating chart.  
  
"Dark elves."   
  
"Yes, I remember an encounter vith von. Nasty things. Very powerful. Von nearly killed me. A lot have gone to private dark arts schools. Anything else? Mister er- Weasley?""  
  
"Vampires."  
  
"Ah, yes. The faction told me about some trouble you've had ven I mentioned Harry, yes. Zat is honestly von of ze reasons I vas hired zis year. Remember vat Dumbledore told you! Stay on school grounds zis year, for your own safety. And tell him or I immediately if you see anyzing out of ze ordinary." He told them.  
  
After class, it seemed everyone wanted to hear about Harry's ancestor, Harker. But he knew as little as they did. Even Draco Malfoy was giving him a look, as though part nervous, and part relieved, and part studying. Harry knew all too well. Something is going down this year, and he would probably have something to do with it.  
  
Something moved above him. He looked up.  
  
The ceiling of the dungeon was still. It was probably just peeves, not really concerned at the moment with wreaking havoc or destroying something. (This was rare).  
  
"Harry? Harry?" Ron shook his shoulder. "Are you all right? You were like... in a trance or something."  
  
"What?" Harry glanced back at the ceiling. Nothing was there.  
  
"Oh... sorry." Harry muttered.   
  
"Nothing? Well, let's go get some lunch." Ron turned and bumped straight into Albus Dumbledore.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Professor. I..."  
  
"That is quite all right, Mister Weasley. However, I need to talk to Harry for a moment. Harry, If you will come with me..."  
  
"Yes, sir." Harry followed him to the stone gargoyle several floors above them. Dumbledore cleared his throat and said "Cauldron Cakes"! The gargoyle immediately sprang to life and leapt aside, revealing a passageway.  
  
"Come, Harry, I need to tell you something important." Dumbledore said as they walked up the circular staircase. "Now you must promise me you will tell this to absolutely no one else, and I mean no one."  
  
"Er- Yes sir. I promise."  
  
"Very good." Dumbledore stepped into his office and Harry followed.  
  
"I think it would be easiest if you saw it through the pensieve." Dumbledore said. "It would explain a lot of questions you may have." Dumbledore opened the secret panel in the back of the room.  
  
"All right." Harry said confusedly, and stared into the large bowl.  
  
Immediately his stomach lurched and he felt as if he were falling into the bowl. Suddenly he stopped, and stood up everything black around him.  
  
A light shone in the distance, and began to move toward him faster and faster. Harry wasn't afraid. He knew after last year's experience with the pensieve that this was all a memory, and that nothing could hurt him.  
  
Still, he felt a small knot in his stomach, that kind you get when you are confused but anticipating something. The light came closer and closer, until it passed by him. Then an entire room lit up, one that Harry realized could have held about twenty-five of the Dursley's houses, lengthwise, straight down from one end to the other.  
  
In the distance, a figure appeared. It was easy to spot, wearing something shiny, and the entire room around it was white. Harry realized he was standing on a catwalk near the ceiling. But he turned his attention back to the approaching figure. It came halted about halfway, and began to climb a ladder which, from Harry's point of view, was barely visible.   
  
It climbed up to the same level of the catwalk Harry was at. It came around a corner an Harry saw what it was wearing that was so shiny. It had on a coat of chain mail with the inscription, THE SILVER BULLET FACTION on it. Harry suddenly wondered where Dumbledore was. This was his memory, wasn't it?  
  
No sooner had he though this than the man wearing the armor pulled out a huge knife and lunged at Harry. Harry leapt aside and just caught himself on the catwalk, when he realized the man was attacking something else. He watched as an older man backed away and pulled out his wand, and muttered a few words. The first man fell back as a loud bang sounded, and then rolled off of the catwalk completely, falling almost fifty feet onto his back. Harry took a closer look at the older man, who turned out to be Dumbledore himself, at least fifty years younger.  
  
"What happened?" A voice boomed across the chamber. A taller wizard hurried up to Dumbledore and looked over the edge.   
  
The man was gone. Harry realized.  
  
"Where is he? Where is Garef? He was one of our best men!" The man shouted at Dumbledore.  
  
"One of your best men just tried to kill me." Dumbledore told him. "Garef drank from the goblet. They've offered him immortality."  
  
"I don't believe it. There's got to be a better explanation..."  
  
"There is none. I wish I could offer one, but there...!"  
  
"And you! You're going to be called before the ministry for..."  
  
"BEHIND YOU!" Dumbledore lifted his wand. The man must have not believed it, because he pointed his wand at Dumbledore. But before he could do anything, something shiny protruded through the front of the man's robes. Behind him, Garef lifted his convulsing body on the large knife, and flung him over the edge of the catwalk.  
  
"How dare you..." Dumbledore shuttered with anger.   
  
Garef raised the knife again, and flung it, sailing straight up for Dumbledore's head.  
  
"Reboundus!" Dumbledore shouted, and the knife flew back into Garef's arm, which immediately began to melt away. He growled, grabbed on to his shoulder, and ripped it straight out of the socket without a wince. It melted away in his hand. Dumbledore looked mildly shocked at this.  
  
"Don't go losing any sleep over it, old man." Garef snarled. "It'll be back in a month." And with that, he disappeared.  
  
"Harry? Harry!" He felt himself being pulled away from the scene, and then he stood up.   
  
"Interesting? T'was sad. That man Garef killed, was a very good person. Trusted Garef with his life, which ended up costing him, sadly."  
  
"That's amazing, They can grow limbs back." Harry said absentmindedly.  
  
"Are you sure he was telling the truth?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"Yeah, because he was the one in my dream, striking the deal with Voldemort." Harry suddenly realized he'd just let a lot slip.  
  
"Was he, now?" Dumbledore replied with interest.  
  
"I... I remembered him, just then."  
  
"Yes, I see. I understand, Harry. Our dreams fade very fast. Maybe you could use a pensieve yourself. Well, Harry, that is all I wanted to show you. But what I want to tell you is, well, Harry, is that Voldemort is cooperating with Garef and his minions to... to basically try and take over Hogwarts. I'd like you to know... for your own good... do not leave Hogwarts grounds, especially after dark, at all this year. Garef is one of the world's most dangerous men. The ministry told me to thank you for all your help and telling us, because your dream was real. But you are in very real danger. They're after you, Harry, and this is about the safest place you can be."  
  
"Er- thanks for telling me."  
  
"Of course. And remember, Harry, tell not a soul what you been told."  
  
"Yes sir." Harry bean to walk out the door, but stopped.  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Yes, Harry?"  
  
"How did the convention go? About that cure..."  
  
"Very well, actually. We know the goblet is enchanted. If... if we enchanted holy water to be not dangerous to a vampire, they could drink it and return to a curable state. We just need to find out how."  
  
"Great. I... I hope it works out."  
  
"So do I. Now, hurry along to lunch, Harry. They're serving a great seafood today."  
  
"Yes, sir." Harry made his way down the winding steps. A moment later he joined Ron in the great hall, and sat down for lunch.  
  
"So what did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?" Ron asked.  
  
"Nothing important." Harry said. Not a soul, he thought, even though he was dying to tell someone.  
  
"Oh, come on, Harry. You can tell me."  
  
"It's nothing, ron. Now pass me the mashed potatoes. I'm starving."  
  
So, what exactly is in store for Harry? Will there be an assault on Hogwarts? And What about Ron's parents? And bill and Charlie? Are the vampires only following Harry? Find out in the next thrilling chapter of Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction!   



	5. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter  
and the   
Silver Bullet Faction.  
  
In the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction...  
  
...Harry took another look into the pensieve, glimpsing a horrifying memory of Dumbledore's past. He now knows that Garef and Voldemort are both out to take over Hogwarts. And to the only bearers of this knowledge, Dumbledore, the ministry and the faction, and even Harry, it seems that one thing is surely imminent: a showdown with Garef!  
  
Chapter 5  
Abduction  
  
It was several weeks into the school year. Harry had readily put the memory in the back of his mind, drowning it out with butterbeer imported into Hogwarts and Quidditch. Nowadays, the Quidditch practices were more monitored, which wasn't such a bad thing, considering how many times the Slytherins had attempted to spy on them, usually ending up with madam hooch and one of the professors chasing them off of the field.  
  
Quidditch practice tonight was no different.  
  
Harry mounted his broom and shot off after Ron, who hadn't exactly gotten the hang of his new broom. They tied a race to the end of the field, and came back to find the Slytherin's staring at Fred, George, and Ron's brooms with awe and a hint of revolt. A lot of them were still impressed and jealous of Harry's Firebolt, too. Draco was no exception.  
  
"So I heard you gained a lot of money over the summer, Weasley!" Malfoy called up. "Did you steal it from Potter's vault? Is that why he couldn't afford one?" The Slytherin's all laughed.  
  
"Oh, shut your big mouth." Ron dismounted in midair, and fell almost ten yards, landing on his feet, and then catching the Firebolt. Everyone stared, impressed, as he got right up in Draco's face. "Harry wouldn't waste the money because he knows he wouldn't need even a comet two-sixty to beat you."  
  
"Ooh, Draco, he thinks he's an American boy, starting trouble without thinking. What are you gonna do?" One of the boys said behind him.  
  
"Oh, shut up, Weasley. At least my mom doesn't have a lot of it, like yours."  
  
"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!" The Gryffindor's gathered around as Draco and Ron faced each other. Harry, Fred, and George all tried the midair-dismounting trick Ron did, and each landed almost perfectly.   
  
"At least my momma isn't so easy she's got..."  
  
"Oh, that's it!" Draco knew what Ron was about to say. "He dropped his drawl and bellowed. "I'm gonna kick your butt, you filthy mudblood!" He whipped out his wand. Ron didn't have his. "Frozonus!" A white beam shot out of the end of his wand. Ron Stared on in shock.  
  
"Deflectus!" Harry jumped in the line of fire with his wand ready. A large field covered them, and Draco's curse reflected upon him immediately. He lie on the ground, knees-shaking and teeth chattering.  
  
"Hey, chill out, man." Fred snickered.  
  
"Funny." Crabbe turned his wand on them. By his fifth year, he was actually figuring out how to do some magic instead of using his fists. Goyle didn't mind, though.  
  
"Uhh... Petrificus Tot...!" Crabbe shouted. But before he was able to finish his spell, Ron was out of the way, and harry had already Shouted his.  
  
"Locomoter Mortis!"  
  
Crabbe fell over sideways, his legs locked together.  
  
Goyle ran forward and took a swing, but at the same time, Fred had thrown one of many of their new gags, a "skunk grenade", which surrounded Goyle in a thick, green, stinking mist. By the time it all cleared, Madam Hooch had appeared to break up the fracas.  
  
"Not funny! Slytherins, carry mister Malfoy to the Hospital wing! Gryffindors, break it up! Back to practice! And twenty points from each!"  
  
None of the Gryffindors cared. All of the casualties were Slytherin, except for Harry being a little stiff.   
  
"That was great!" Ron was still laughing twenty minutes after practice in the common room. "Are you all right? I'm sorry I got out of the way."  
  
"I don't expect you to take a curse for me, Ron. But your brothers did good back there. Fast on their brooms."  
  
"Yeah, Crabbe, actually trying magic. It probably wouldn't have worked that well, anyway."  
  
"Yeah. So have your parents mailed you anything recently, telling you if that vampire thing stopped?"  
  
"For them, I guess. Dad's friends that work at the Silver Bullet Faction come by every day to check up, he says. I wonder about Bill and Charlie. And wasn't Sirius coming up here?"  
  
"I think I'll ask Dumbledore about it, later. But what about your brothers..."  
  
***  
  
"Er-Mister... William Weasley?"  
  
"Huh?" Bill turned around. He thought he was alone in the Gringotts bank down in Africa, just about to lock up. Apparently, though, he wasn't alone.  
  
"Who's there?" He turned and asked the darkness.  
  
A pale man, about a head taller than him, stepped out of the shadows.  
  
"I've come to make a proposition." He had unusually long teeth that gleamed in the darkness. Bill recognized him for what he was at once.  
  
"And what might that be?" He said out of curiosity.  
  
"Come here." The man beckoned him.  
  
"I'm not going near you. I know what you are and what you want." Bill reached into his pocket and pulled out a small penknife.  
  
"Ooooh, watcha gonna do? Paper cut me?" The man played it cool as Bill walked over to him. This was not a smart move.  
  
Like lightning, Bill whipped the knife across the man's forehead, making a cross. He backed away as he caught on fire, burning from the hair, then down. Soon he was a dissolving pile of ashes.  
  
"Oh, the boss is gonna have a fit I just made a mess of the newly waxed floor." Bill watched as only a black streak was left. Then he strolled out of the door and on his way home.  
  
***  
  
"So are you in?" The icy voice asked him. "Mister Weasley, I haven't got all day. Either you're in or your life."  
  
"My family and friends are worth a lot more to me than your stipulated immortality." Charlie laughed.  
  
"We can... drop the 'stipulations', if you will."  
  
"Not interested." Charlie said with his back turned.  
  
"Well, that's just too bad." The man leapt forward. Charlie realized that he was being attacked, but didn't move a hair. Just then, a large fireball collided with the vampire, who fell to the ground, screeching.  
  
"'Atsa good boy." Charlie looked up at Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback. It was times like these he felt lucky he decided to go off studying Dragons.  
  
***  
  
"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore?" Harry approached him as he was leaving his office.  
  
"Hello, Harry. Something you wanted to ask me?" Dumbledore stared down at him through his half-moon spectacles.   
  
"I was, er- wondering, where is my Sirius? Has he written to you?"  
  
"Ah, yes. But we can't talk about him here. He's in a secret room in the castle right now. He arrived a few days back, but hasn't had the time or opportunity to talk to you."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Each day, Harry, we send out several letters to various divisions of the ministry, and the faction. Right now, they're under a lot of pressure. The faction is becoming mildly susceptible to the possibility that Sirius was innocent, but he doesn't write to the ministry. However, if you would like to see him, you may come with me."   
  
"All right." Harry followed Dumbledore to the hall containing the picture of the fruit bowl that led to the kitchen. Past that, all the way at the end of the hall, Dumbledore came to halt at a picture of... a door?  
  
"Alohomora." He said, and the keyhole grew larger and larger, until they it yielded a large tunnel, and, at the end, was a dimly lit room. Harry walked in and saw Sirius sitting in a chair, reading a book by the firelight.  
  
He looked up. "Oh, headmaster, hello!" Harry noticed he was looking a lot more healthy than he did the last time they met.   
  
"Harry! How are you doing? How are your classes coming along? Snape isn't being a prick, is he?"  
  
"Sirius..." Dumbledore gave him a piercing look.  
  
"Sorry." Sirius said. "Seriously, Harry, how are you doing?"  
  
"Just, er- fine. Classes are the same as usual. But this year... is just not shaping up to par."  
  
"Why, Harry, what's wrong with the school?" Dumbledore asked.   
  
"Normally, by now, I'd expect some action or something. But... nothings happened."  
  
"Harry, Vampires, like dementors, are no laughing matter, to go beyond death. You don't need any "action" this year."  
  
"That's too bad."  
  
"No it's not. Harry," Sirius chimed in. "You have a really bad habit for getting knee-deep in trouble. I ask you, this year, just stay put. You're lucky you're alive after all of the years at Hogwarts, you know."  
  
"Well, yes."  
  
"Oh, and I have some news from the faction for your friend Ron. His family is all right, and they're checking up on them every day." Sirius handed Harry a note.  
  
"Well, it was good to see you again. I was worried, you know."  
  
"Don't be, Harry. Just do me the favor of staying on the grounds this year, all right?"  
  
"Okay." Harry promised. "Well, I've got to get to class. Good bye." Harry walked out of the portal, and back down the hall.  
  
"This is shaping up to be one heck of a year." He said to himself. "But at least everyone is all right. But I've got to get to class." He said to himself.  
  
"Oh no!" He realized. "I have potions next!" He broke into a run. Either he would have to take a detention, or risk telling Snape about Sirius.  
  
He ran into the potions class in the dungeon.  
  
"Ah, Mister Potter!" Snape said silkily. "We're late, as usual, I see. Tut, tut."  
  
"But... but I was just..."  
  
"SILENCE!" He spat. "Take your seat, Potter! I will tell Dumbledore of this, rest assured!"  
  
"I already know about it, Professor Snape." Dumbledore appeared in the doorway. "Harry was with me. It was not his fault he was late. He will does not need to be punished."  
  
"Yes, Headmaster. My apologies."  
  
Dumbledore raised his hand. "It is perfectly understandable." But he gave Snape a look that clearly told him not to do it again.  
  
The potions lesson was kind of interesting. Snape was busy with a pile of papers at his desk, so the students were told to each review a different potion and make it.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned out a very good invisibility potion, while Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle messed up what was supposed to be a swelling potion. Of course, as always, Snape had only good comments for the Slytherins, and thankfully, nothing (at least) for the Gryffindors.  
  
After potions, they had one more class, and then they went to the common room. Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Alicia, Katie, and Angelina all left to go to Quidditch practice. This year, Angelina had been left as Captain of the Quidditch team.  
  
"All right, team! We've got to get in shape for the match against the Slytherins next week!" She mounted her broom, but stared in kidding jealously at the Weasley's broomsticks.  
  
"All right!" She jetted up into the air, while Katie Bell released the bludgers, the quaffle, and the snitch, which disappeared immediately.  
  
Harry frowned and concentrated. He looked all around him, and then he spotted it. In a flash, he took off on the Firebolt, and had it in his hand. Everyone, including the Weasleys, were amazed.  
  
"Harry!" Ron came up beside him. "Do you realize how long it took you to catch that? She only let it out of the box about four seconds before you caught it!"  
  
"That's really funny, because it seemed like forever. Things were all slow. It... it was almost too easy to get it."  
  
"Wow..."  
  
"Yeah." He suddenly realized the Snitch was struggling around in his hands, and he let it go.  
  
"You're... it's almost as if you're getting better by the minute. I didn't even have the time to stop a shot from Alicia Spinnet."  
  
"Hmm. Maybe I did get a little better. But I haven't practiced all summer."  
  
"Well, just don't lay off the caffeine, Harry. Definitely."  
  
"Sure. Now, where is it?" He looked around, and saw the snitch again. He pulled up the end of the Firebolt, shot toward it, and barely a second later, he saw the shiny golden snitch, trying to dodge. But he moved his hand a little to the right, and caught it with ease.  
  
"Whoa! I think about five there, but it was on the other side of the field." Ron rode up beside him again.  
  
"It was almost... easy. I could see it as it moved when I got real close to it."  
  
"Incredible! Angelina's already told me how impressed she is with you."  
  
"Yeah. At this point, we'll kick the snot out of the Slytherins in no time."  
  
"Let's go get Malfoy to follow us out here to show off in front of him."  
  
"No, I think we should leave that for the game. Surprise them, you know."  
  
"Harry..." Ron said in an almost mischievous voice.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I told Malfoy earlier that you wouldn't need a comet to beat him."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Well, I wouldn't be so arrogant going up against any other house, but just for this one time, why don't you borrow one of the schools comets and play? It's a lot slower, but if you really try, you might get the snitch in less than twenty seconds."  
  
The idea never occurred to Harry. But he thought about it. If he beat Malfoy on an inferior broom, just this once, he could prove once and for all that he was better, undisputedly. In fact...  
  
"Ron, not only am I going to use a comet, I'm lending my Firebolt to Malfoy."  
  
Ron stared at him, dumbstruck.  
  
"I'll have Hermione put an Unbreakable Charm on the Firebolt, and give it to Dumbledore himself. The teachers can inspect it, just to know we haven't jinxed it, and give it to him for that one match."  
  
"Harry..." Ron was shocked. "That's so arrogant it's not funny. I hope you know what you're doing..."  
  
"I do. Don't worry." Harry replied. "But this way, everyone will see it. It's indisputable. We will be the best. And we will show Malfoy."  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Yeah, Ron?"  
  
"You never cease to amaze me."  
  
***  
  
After practice, Harry went straight to Dumbledore, meeting him in the hallway, and requested to let him inspect the broom.  
  
"I will put the Unbreakable Charm on it for you, Harry. I understand that. But... why do you want to let Malfoy borrow it... to use it against you in your first match?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
That, Harry couldn't explain to Dumbledore without sounding like a jerk. For the first time as long as they had known each other, Harry finally told Dumbledore.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir. I mean no disrespect, however, I have my own reasons. I cannot, well, I cannot state them, at least not right now. I promise you, I haven't hexed it. In fact, I would like you to check it yourself. But I don't want Malfoy breaking it on purpose."  
  
"I see. But then why would trust him with it?"  
  
"That's what I can't tell."  
  
"I see. Well, I'm sure you have a good reason, Harry. And I would never doubt your word. Very well. I will do as you ask. Mister Malfoy will receive the broom at the beginning of the match, it having been inspected, and it will be returned to you at the end."  
  
"Thank you, sir." Harry left the hallway, and met up with Ron.  
  
"Will he let you do it, or did he say no?" Ron asked.  
  
"Do I have my broom with me? For a maximum of thirty seconds tomorrow, Ron, Malfoy will have my broom. Thirty seconds, and no longer."  
  
***  
  
Harry sat up that night, the last one in the common room, watching the fire die down. But suddenly, he heard a noise. It was low at first, but grew steadily in volume.  
  
A voice.  
  
Harry realized that it was coming down from the staircase leading to the girls rooms. Then there was a long, loud shriek.  
  
Harry knew it was against the rules, but deep down inside, he knew that something was wrong.  
  
Dead wrong.  
  
He reached the fifth year girl's room, and threw open the door. He saw the girls huddled in the corner, and a tall, pale boy.   
  
And Hermione. KISSING. Why, he didn't understand.  
  
Harry knew him for what he was, after all of his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.  
  
He lunged to attack the boy, since he didn't have his wand. But the vampire turned and knocked him back against the wall, and leapt out the window with Hermione.  
  
"HERMIONE!" Harry shouted into the night, but it was too late.  
  
They were both gone.  



	6. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter 

And the 

Silver Bullet Faction

When we last left Harry, there was a quick encounter with a Vampire, which left our hero bruised, and his good friend Hermione, gone. Now the only hope looks like for Harry and the gang to plan to get her back. Dumbledore is very worried, not at all like himself, and Ron isn't taking it well, either...

Chapter 6

To settle a score.

"It's all right, now." Madam Pomfrey mopped off his head with a cool cloth. "We'll mend that cut now and you can go back to your bed."

"Poppy," Dumbledore appeared in the doorway. "I need to talk to Harry immediately. Alone."

"I'm sorry? Professor, I have a patient who is severely injured here. He needs help."

"Poppy, this is not the time. Something much more valuable than a life or a limb is at stake, and I'm sure Harry is in no immediate danger."

Madam Pomfrey sighed. But what could she really do? He was the headmaster. And Harry wasn't exactly dying. True, his face was covered with blood, from a deep gash he had received after being thrown. He recalled the events so vividly...

... Hermione and the boy, kissing. But why? Harry had a good idea, which brought him to worry a lot about her, now...

Ron sat on the bed next to Harry's. He was the first to enter the room, right after Hermione and the boy ran...flew out of the window.

"Hermione... no..." Ron mumbled, but not helplessly. Harry could see the blazing fury burning in his eyes, the worry about one of his best friends.

"Mister Weasley, I'm sorry, but I need to talk to Harry alone." Dumbledore told him. Ron stood, and left with Madam Pomfrey, shutting the door behind them.

"Harry, we must hurry, for we have very little time. I have already contacted the Silver Bullet Faction Headquarters, and they are sending twenty men out here to guard the school for the year. I will inform the students in the morning. But we need to find Hermione and pray that she is all right. Listen, for I believe I know where she is. There is a castle two miles south of Hogsmeade. It has been recently guarded by the Silver Bullet Faction after a raid, but when I contacted them tonight, I found out that they have lost contacts to that castle. It has been taken over again, I'm sure..." Just then, they heard footsteps, and a voice.

"You can't, Weasel, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into..." A drawling voice rasped. Then there was a loud crack.

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "You must not intervene, this time, Harry for much, much more than your life is at stake. Stay here, and trust only Sirius and myself. I have business elsewhere, now, Harry. Goodbye." And with that, Dumbledore strode out of the room.

Madam Pomfrey passed him in the hall with a polite nod, came back into the infirmary, and healed Harry's cut. Then he left.

He was walking down the hall when a hand cupped over his mouth, and he was dragged into the shadows.

"DRACO!" He yelled, and Draco's hand wrenched over his mouth again. 

"Shut up, Potter." Malfoy's cold eyes seemed to burn into his. "I heard about you lending me your broom, potter. Very arrogant, if you ask me. Dumbledore told me yesterday. But I you want to lose that bad..." He smirked.

"Keep your mouth shut, Malfoy."

"Listen, Potter, because I'm only going to tell you once. This isn't about that. I thought Hogwarts was secure. That I'd be safe."

"From what?"

"Vampires, Potter. One got Hermione tonight. Did your head get hit that bad?" 

Harry glared. "Why are you worried? The vampires are in league with Voldemort and the Death - Eaters, including your father. Yes, I know your father is a Death - Eater." He responded to the surprised look on Draco's face.

"Well, Potter, I hate to say it, but Voldemort will not offer my father, mother, or me any protection from these. They are incredibly dangerous. But I can help you stop them. Or at least I'll try."

"What? Why? You hate Hermione. You wished for her to die two years ago..."

"I never meant it like that, Potter. I loathe Muggle - borns, but I don't see any real point in them dying. Not even that piece of trash Granger." Harry felt his face go red with rage, but Draco continued. "Yeah, I think they aren't at all anywhere near as good as us pure - bloods, but they don't deserve death. And nobody deserves losing their soul. But that's what may very well happen."

"What? You mean... her soul?"

"Yes, Potter. I used to study dark demi-humans as an interest. And that's what happens."

"I'm surprised anyone like you would believe in..."

"Potter, I'm not going to get into a theological discussion with you now, but I'm almost as concerned with everyone else in the school as well as myself..." Typical Draco Malfoy, Harry thought. "...and I'll do whatever it takes to stop them without getting hurt. Got it?"

"Fine." Harry muttered.

"But don't you dare take this as a gesture of friendship, Potter." Malfoy sneered.

"Don't worry. I won't." Harry glared back. Just then, he noticed that Malfoy's nose was bleeding. "How did that happen?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Draco drawled. "Weasley punched me in the nose. You better go tell Dumbledore."

"That he punched you?" Harry was more concerned that Draco would have Snape go after Ron.

"No, Potter. I actually tried to stop him, believe it or not, but he's gone after Hermione. To that castle, south of Hogsmeade."

***

The doors on the old castle creaked loudly, swinging open and shut.

"Phillip? Charlie?" A man called inside. His voice echoed in the seemingly empty, dank halls. He didn't even see the shadow dart behind him. Right now, he had no clue that both of his colleagues were dead. And he didn't even realize, as he took his last breath, as someone snuck up behind him, as his neck was snapped in a split second, the last moment of his life.

"Hermione!" Ron tore down the old hill past Hogsmeade. He should have told Dumbledore, or at least consulted Harry before he even thought of leaving. But there was no time. 

The situations they had been up against before, they all seemed challenging, but they never seemed to need so much more time, not when they went after Quirrell, or entered the Chamber of Secrets, or saved Sirius and Buckbeak. 

But this time, their time was just about up. 

He ran up to the doors of the castle, and realized that they were open.

That's funny, Ron thought, weren't there supposed to be Silver Bullet Soldiers here? It looks empty... He peeked inside. Total darkness.

"She's got to be in here." He muttered. But he almost wished she wasn't, because he didn't want to meet up with that boy Harry told him had knocked him senseless. Suddenly, at the far end of the hall, he spotted a figure.

"Hermione!" He skidded across the grimy floor until he reached the other side, where she was sitting on the floor, almost as if she was waiting.

"Hello, Ron," She said without even looking up at him. "we've been waiting for you."

"What do you mean, we? Hermione, it's time we go back to Hogwarts."

"But I want to stay. Right here. Now and forever."

"No, you don't. Now come on!" He turned away and grabbed her hand to yank her up, but suddenly felt something tear at his hand. He turned in shock to see her biting into it.

"HERMIONE!" He yelped and yanked it away. She licked her lips and stood, bearing horrid fangs.

"Oh, sick, you're one of them!" He turned, but someone was blocking his path. A tall, pale boy.

"Leaving so soon?" He asked.

Ron reached into his robes and gripped his wand, his hand almost slipping past it from being covered in sweat. Or the blood trickling from where Hermione had shredded it up.

"You're afraid." He stepped behind Ron. "You should be."

"Right." Ron pulled the wand out. "Stupe-"

"Crucio!" The boy pointed his hand at Ron and shouted. Suddenly, a pain like no other - like fire - only worse - coursed through Ron. Every inch of skin, bone, it was as if his body was tossed into a vat of molten steel. He screamed as the boy muttered another spell, which sent him flying back into the wall, slamming him against it again and again.

Suddenly, Ron realized he was still gripping his wand.

"Ex-Expel-Expelliarmus!" Ron managed to choke out. But nothing happened.

"Fool!" The boy shouted. "An entity of such magical power like mine has no need for a wand, even if it would conduct magic better. But If you don't like me playing with magic..." He muttered something else, and Ron fell to the ground, and the Crucious Curse faded away.

"Well?" The boy smirked evilly. "Now is your chance. I will give you ten - count 'em - ten seconds to attack me, and I will not attack back, magic or otherwise."

Ron gripped his wand and prepared to go all out.

***

What's going on here? Harry thought as he raced through the hallways. No one's acting like themselves - Dumbledore isn't very confident, Ron went after Hermione when he knows all about the scary things that have been going on, and Draco... he's trying to help me! 

He turned the corner and hurried up to Dumbledore's gargoyle statue. None of this makes any sense! No one is acting like themselves! What is going on here? He thought. And why didn't Dumbledore notice Draco in the halls? He usually would have been able to tell that Ron was right outside of the infirmary doors!

"Cauldron cakes!" He shouted at the gargoyle, which leapt aside, revealing the entrance to Dumbledore's office. As Harry raced up to the door, even more questions raced through his mind.

"Professor!" He yelled as he burst through the door. Inside, he saw a man in chain mail and a black leather jacket talking to Dumbledore, who was drinking from a goblet of wine.

"Harry, is there a problem?" Dumbledore fixed an unusually gruff stare on Harry, his eyes not twinkling at all like they usually do. 

Harry could barely choke. 

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" The man asked. "Is there an intruder?"

"No, no, no..." Harry gasped. "Professor, it's Ron. He's gone after Hermione.

Dumbledore's goblet dropped from his hand and shattered on the floor.

***

"Stupefy!" Ron shouted. The boy raised his hand, and Ron almost worried that he had been double crossed, until the boy muttered, "Deflectus." And the spell bounced aside.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" He bellowed.

"Defletus Maxim." All three spells bounced aside, a solid barrier separating the boy and Ron.

Five seconds left. Ron knew that he was too weak to perform the Kedavra curse and probably the Crucious, so he tried one more idea that crossed his mind.

"Imperius!" He yelled, and the spell struck the boy square in the head. It worked!

Now, Ron thought, you will do as I tell you. I want you stay right there. Don't move at all. Within his subconscious, where the boy couldn't hear his thoughts, Ron realized that he could not yet use the stunning spell, stupefy, or else he might break his concentration and allow the boy the split second he needed to regain control.

But for now, Ron thought, I am in control.

"No, you're not." The boy told him.

"What? But how?" He concentrated. You will stand right there, he commanded in his head.

"No, I won't. Sorry to tell you this, but your ten seconds are up."

What? But how? How can he resist this spell? Ron thought.

"Very simple, actually. My intellect is much greater than yours. And now you have made things much simpler for me, now that you have used that spell to bridge our minds."

"What?" Ron gasped. Suddenly the boy's voice boomed in his head. He's countering the spell somehow, Ron realized.

Walk over to me. The voice boomed. Ron could not stop himself. He walked straight up to the boy and stared him in the eye.

"Very good." The boy flicked his hand, and the link between their minds was broken immediately. 

Ron had one last - ditch effort. The weak point... the heart... he thought. My wand is as close to a stake as I can get. He tensed his arm and his wand shot up for the left side of the boy's chest. Like a flash, the boy's hand gripped Ron's fist, and he took the wand away, and snapped it in two.

"What? But you couldn't read my mind anymore!" Ron shouted.

"Let's face it. You're no match for me - and you never were - magically or physically." He squeezed and shattered every bone in Ron's fist. Ron could barely manage to sputter in his agony. Suddenly, he felt the boy's icy fingers wrapping around his neck, choking him, lifting him off the ground. 

Then he felt a sharp pain as the boy snapped his spine in two, above the second vertebrate. A perfect hangman's fracture. 

And Ron crumpled on the floor, a lifeless heap.

***

A week passed. When the faction raided the castle, there was nothing to be found. They had no idea where to find Ron, and the atmosphere at Hogwarts was becoming uneasy and distrustful.

Finally, it was time for the first Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The team had been given the run through, of every little detail of play. A third year Gryffindor was replacing for Ron. Fred pointed out several times that the new captain was just as bad as Oliver Wood was.

Angelina looked at Harry uneasily. She didn't at all want to lose the match, but, hey, who did? Harry took the team's most battered Comet Two-Sixty and walked out onto the field.

"Team Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch told them. Angelina and the new Slytherin Captain, Draco, shook hands. This surprised Harry, in a way, but then again, he thought, Draco probably bought the position.

"Mount your brooms, and... GO!" Madam Hooch shouted. Immediately, fourteen brooms shot up into the air, Harry the highest.

Five seconds into the game.

"And Slytherin in possession of the Quaffle." Lee Jordan was commenting again. "Yes, and a block by Alicia Spinnit! Now Gryffindor is going for one of the Slytherin goals, only ten seconds in..."

Harry searched the field for the snitch amongst the scrambled mass of players, bludgers, and the quaffle. Suddenly, he saw it, glinting across the field. 

Right next to Draco.

Harry turned and took off in the other direction and surely enough, as he had planned, Draco was speeding across the field on Harry's Firebolt. As he passed, Harry turned straight back in the other direction, heading for the snitch. Draco couldn't turn around safely enough at the speed he was going, and, anyway, he didn't have the control over the Firebolt that Harry did. 

Or so Harry thought. But as he was about to reach the snitch, he turned back to realize that Draco was right behind him. He just needed a few more feet...

It was neck and neck... 

"And Malfoy and Potter both found the snitch... look at them go!" Lee blared. 

One inch. It made all the difference in the world...

Harry began to recall all his past Quidditch experiences...

Rising up on his first broom for the first time...

Winning the Quidditch cup...

The world cup...

His first match...

His whole team, smiling, shouting, cheering him on...

He saw the snitch dive to the right, closer to Draco's hand. But unlike Harry, Draco couldn't follow it. Harry reached a little to the right, and his fingers closed around the small, shiny brass snitch.

"WHAAAAT?" Jordan hit a button on his stopwatch. "Nineteen point... two-one seconds into play, and Harry's got the Snitch! This... is a new record! Incredible!" Harry fell floated down to the ground. He had done it. Nineteen seconds. 

"Harry!" Angelina landed beside him. The whole team was coming down, shouting his name and cheering. The Gryffindor crowd roared almost as loud as it had when he had won the cup. And something else landed beside him. The Firebolt.

"Hmph." Draco gave him an half nasty look. It wasn't really angry or hateful, but mostly shocked.

It was undisputed. Harry was the best there was, and Draco just couldn't comprehend. Harry picked up his Firebolt and was carried off the field by his team, cheered by the entire Gryffindor crowd.

***

He waited in the common room, thinking. About Ron. Where is he, Harry asked himself. For twenty full seconds, he had forgotten. That was too long for a best friend. 

The common room was empty. Harry glanced over at the window. Then he got up, walked over, and opened it. Staring out into the dark night. Suddenly, he heard something. It seemed like a whisper, inside his head, or outside. He couldn't tell for some odd reason. Calling his name. It seemed almost as if the voice was cast with the moon's oddly deep, rust colored glow.

"Hermione..." He breathed.

Is Hermione lurking around the castle with that mysterious boy? And what about Ron? Has our hero's best friend's final hour finally come? Find out in the next thrilling installment in our series, Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction, Chapter Seven!


	7. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

  
Harry Potter  
And The  
Silver Bullet Faction  
  
In our last chapter, Harry informed Dumbledore of Hermione's abduction. The headmaster contacted the Silver Bullet Faction, when even more bad news arose. Ron had pursued Hermione and her abductor, a strange boy, who turned out to be a vampire. An incredible showdown resulted, with Ron giving it everything he had. His efforts, however, were just not enough, and resulted in a painful death at the hands of Hermione's abductor. His valiant attempts in vain, it now looks as if Hermione's last chance is in Harry...  
  
Chapter 7  
The Legend of Multus.  
  
"Hermione." He whispered, staring out into the night. He looked down at the ground stories below the window.  
  
Nothing. The bushes rustled, like a rasping voice alongside the whistle that was the cool fall night's wind.  
  
He could have sworn he'd heard her. But when he called out her name, he was met only with silence.  
  
He was going to kill Garef for this. Him and all of his "minions". He'd never wanted to make someone pay so much. He never... ever... so badly wanted to hurt someone as he did now.  
  
Harry... the bushes rustled again. The darkness beckoned him, the perfect time to do whatever he needed to, to take care of this whole problem, without being seen, or caught, or in trouble. But after Ron's disappearance, he wasn't so sure he could take on Voldemort, or Garef, or even that boy, for that matter. All he could do was hope that the faction could take care of this. After all, he was just a kid. He was still trying to contemplate how he had survived so many encounters with Voldemort. And Now he was even stronger. But Garef, at the time, seemed like an even greater nemesis.  
  
Now he realized it. Like so many times before. Voldemort was luring him. This was a win-or-die game, Harry realized, and this time, neither of them was going to be arrogant.  
  
"A problem, Harry?" A voice suddenly made him jump.  
  
"Doctor string!" Harry turned around. "I didn't hear you enter."  
  
"My apologies for scaring you, Harry. But I can see zat you are troubled. Can I help you?"  
  
"I don't suppose you could find Ron or Hermione." Harry suggested.  
  
"Ah, yes. I vish I could. But ve should leave zat to ze faction. Zey know vat ze are doing."  
  
"Yeah, I know. But there isn't anything I can do. I'm so used to this kind of thing. Well, I mean, something happens every year, and..."  
  
"I know. I have read of your exploits in ze Daily Prophet. But Zis is hundreds of times worse zan anything you have ever encountered. You must trust me."  
  
"Yeah, I do." (Doctor String scoffed just slightly.) "So what's the lesson going to be about tomorrow?"  
  
"Vell, vhy don't I show you? Were you about to go to sleep?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Vell, come to my office vith me. I think you vill find zis very interesting." Harry followed him out of the common room and down the corridor to the staircase. After a long walk to one of the dungeons, Harry walked into Dr. String's office.  
  
"Take a seat, Harry. I vill be vith you in a moment." String turned around and Harry sat in a chair. Suddenly, the professor pulled out a large, dusty old book and opened it to a folded page. On the page was the picture of a bronze statue of a sideways eight, only broken on the left side. It seemed to course with green rings of light that showered sparks in the gap.  
  
"What is... umm..."  
  
"Zat, Harry, Zat is ze Multus. Only two have ever been made, and only one used. It is made vhen an incredibly powerful dying vizard or vitch gives all of his or her power to the sculpture of an infinite sign. It is powerless until it receives its power. However, it drains ze giver to his last breath."  
  
"Wow. And what does it do?"  
  
"Let me explain. Vhen ze vizard or vitch gives their power, zhey die, and a piece of ze statue dissolves, making it no longer infinite, but storing still incredible power. Vhen touched, it becomes stone. But ze power is given to whoever makes contact vith it. It can multiply your power, Harry, by a million times. And vith enough experience, you could defeat any vizard of power."  
  
"Incredible! But, er, where are these? How do they know they even work?"  
  
"Ze Ministry of Magic knew. Vhy, I do not know how, until it vas demonstrated."  
  
"What... you mean?"  
  
Professor String nodded.  
  
"Who touched it?"  
  
There was a long pause. String shut the book and began to pace. Finally, he spoke.  
  
"Zhey did not vant him to touch it. But how could zhey stop him?"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"How do you think he is so powerful? He killed zhem all to get to it. Before they could stop him, he had taken all of zhe power. And now, he is looking for zhe other."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"The same man, Harry... who gave you zhat scar." Harry felt his spine tingle. String looked harshly at him, not even noticing his own expression.  
  
"Do they know where the other one is?"  
  
"No von does. But zhe know it exists. Like before, don't ask me to try to understand zhose ministry officials. Now! Off to bed vith you. And Harry, don't vorry. If anyvone knows vhat zhey are doing right now, it is zhe faction and Dumbledore."  
  
"All right." Harry nodded, got up, and left.  
  
***  
  
"FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR OOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTT!" CRUNCH!  
  
"Wayne?"  
  
"Ben?"  
  
"What Just happened?"  
  
"I dunno. Something fell in that dumpster over there. Something big. I... I think it was a person."  
  
"What?" The man named Wayne peered ahead into the darkness. "Are you sure? It's in the open. There's no buildings near it."  
  
"Let's take a look." Ben walked over and looked into the dumpster.  
  
"What is..." He saw something stirring beneath the foul-smelling garbage.  
  
"I think we'd better..."  
  
"Can you give a man a hand?"  
  
"Let's get out of here!" Ben jumped away and took off down the dimly lit street, followed by the man named Wayne.  
  
"Ugh... exactly where am I... I didn't know Hogwarts had a dumpster..." The figure groaned.  
  
Four fingers wrapped around the side of the dumpster, and a moment later, a tall man, only about twenty years old, pulled himself out. He was wearing a black leather jacket, old jeans, and ragged sneakers, all of which he was brushing garbage off of. He began to walk down the street, and even though several of the lamps on it were burnt out, for some odd reason, they seemed to light up once again as he passed.  
  
***  
  
Garef stared ahead, seemingly unaware of anything. It poured heavily outside, pattering loudly on the glass.   
  
"Master Garef." A voice sounded. He was given no response.  
  
"Master Garef!" The voice called louder this time.  
  
"DON'T YOU EVER RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ME AGAIN! I DON'T CARE FOR WHAT REASON!" He boomed back.  
  
"I'm very sorry, sir." The speaker suddenly became very stiff. "This is just, well, er, very important, sir."  
  
"What, what, what is it?"  
  
"Well, sir, we, uh, we got the girl."  
  
"We?" Garef turned around and stared at the man. "We?"  
  
"Er, Elliot did. He found her and brought her back."  
  
Silence again.  
  
"Why did Voldemort want the girl again, sir?"  
  
"Very good question. And the answer is actually quite simple..."  
  
"Yes sir?"  
  
"TO GET HARRY TO COME AFTER HER AND HELP HER, SHERLOCK! NOW GET ME SOME MORE BRANDY! OR MAYBE WINE... OR SOMETHING, GET ME SOMETHING TO DRINK!"  
  
"Yes, sir!"  
  
"Oh, and do you want to know why we want Harry to come after her?"  
  
"No, sir. I think I get the idea."  
  
"Good. Now get out." Garef threw the goblet at him, which shattered all over the wall.  
  
"We will kill Harry Potter." Garef growled. "And then we'll waste everyone in that school one, by one, until it is all ours. First, Hogwarts... and then, the world! AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"  
  
"Uh, sir, pardon me, but here's your wine. Why are you laughing?" The man had returned.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Now get out of my sight." Garef sighed.  
  
***  
  
"I wish so badly I could do something, Harry, but it just seems hopeless. All we can do is rely on the faction, now. They're better at this than I am, anyway." The twinkle seemed to have left Dumbledore's eyes.  
  
"But, sir, what about all that time back? The pensieve! You versus Garef! Where was that big, white room? Maybe they're hiding out there!"  
  
"That was an old muggle warehouse that a false raid had been called to. I had found out and gone ahead to warn them, but it was too late. Twenty-three men died that night, because of Garef's treachery."  
  
"Oh, don't feel too bad about that. It didn't hurt too much." A voice said from the shadows. Dumbledore was immediately on his feet, wand ready in the air.  
  
"Hey, chill out, chief." The man in the leather jacket and jeans stepped into the light.  
  
"Hunt?" Dumbledore looked in surprise at the man.  
  
"I am reading your mind... I am reading your mind... Oh, wait, I'm not psychic. What were you going to say?"  
  
"Are you..."  
  
"No! I'm not a vampire."  
  
"How are you..."  
  
"Strike two! Gotta ask faster!"  
  
"I thought you were..."  
  
"Strike three! Sure was, though. Came right back."  
  
"Who is this?" Harry asked.  
  
"Hunt was one of the raid members who died. But... ohhh. I see now." The twinkle seemed to return in his eyes.  
  
"I think I know what you're thinking. Hey, Harry. The name's Ken Hunt. Been waiting to meet you for a long time." Hunt held out his hand, but as Harry reached out, he withdrew it. "Sorry. You don't want to know where that's been. Forgot."  
  
"Been where... ooooh." Harry suddenly caught a rotten stench. "Er, sorry, but... were you in the garbage?"  
  
"Yes, MOM, I was in the garbage." He growled. "Sorry. I get tired of being wrong."  
  
"What's going on?" Harry asked.  
  
"Hunt is... an angel."  
  
"Ding, ding, tell him what he's won, Johnny!" Hunt laughed.  
  
"An... an angel?"  
  
"Yeah. You see, God usually sends us like, uh... how do I explain this to a kid... invisible, so we don't get in the way, and don't interfere with the test of belief and peoples lives and all... However, sometimes we need to make contact with people. He sent me to help you beat Garef. This is sort of a teamwork thing, and even you need a little help, you know."  
  
"Yeah. But, er, where are, uh..."  
  
"My wings? This mission will help me earn them."  
  
"Why didn't he send a lot of reinforcements?"  
  
"'Cause he knows that one is enough. Even in the darkest places, it only takes the slightest ray of hope, Harry, and good will overcome all."  
  
"Wow. Quite inspiring."  
  
"Thanks. Got it from a movie I saw once."  
  
"Oh. Uh, why were you in garbage?"  
  
"Harry, I learned a valuable lesson tonight. Always listen to God, and your superiors, too. You see, one of the head angels, he told me to take the subway to earth, but, uh... I sort of wanted to make a dramatic entrance. I want to jump down and land on my feet. Instead, I land in a dump."  
  
"Oh, sorry."  
  
"Don't be."  
  
"Er, Mister Hunt."  
  
"Call me Ken."  
  
"Er, Ken."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Can you tell me if Ron and Hermione are all right?"  
  
"Alas, I cannot. But, hey, I'm sure they're fine... hint, hint..."  
  
"Uh, okay." Harry looked at him oddly.  
  
"Harry, I believe it's best you don't ask him any questions about the future and such. He is actually not to divulge information." Dumbledore gave Hunt a sideways glance.  
  
"But I'm sure Professor Trelawney would!" Hunt said enthusiastically. "Now, Harry, Professor Dumbledore and I need to talk. Why don't you go to bed? You need your rest. Unless there's a party in the common room. Then invite me."  
  
"Sure." Harry laughed, and turned around.  
  
"Oh, and Harry."  
  
"Yes, Mister Ken?"  
  
"Cut it with the Mister stuff. Unless circumstances arise, you will be the only student who can see and here me, got it?"  
  
"Yes, er, Ken."  
  
"MISTER Ken, to you."  
  
"But you said..."  
  
"I'm kidding. Go to bed."  
  
"Good night, Harry." Dumbledore said.  
  
"All right. Uh, Nice to meet you. Good night." Harry turned, and left Dumbledore's office.  
  
***  
  
"I've had it up to here!" Garef bellowed in the empty chamber. "I can't wait any longer!"  
  
"Calm yourself, Garef." A raspy voice slipped forth from the shadows. "Soon, soon you will have your chance. Potter is not... as foolish as I would have hoped."  
  
"You underestimate the boy. You never hoped. You thought."  
  
"FOOL! NO ONE TALKS TO LORD VOLDEMORT LIKE THAT! NEVER!"  
  
"Yeah, sure." Garef plopped down in his seat and drawled jokingly. "Next time I'll take a memo, dad."  
  
"If your services weren't so important to me, I'd kill you!"  
  
Oh, what the heck, just make him, Garef laughed to himself.  
  
"Anyway, I haven't lost my interest in Potter, Garef. I've got important business elsewhere. But if you capture him, I want you to keep him safe, so that I may duel with him once more. I have acquired a new wand, so that Priori Incantatem is no longer effective."  
  
"What'd ya do with the old one? Sell it for a nickel?"  
  
"It so happens I keep it in a palace of mine, located in the Ethereal Realm!" Voldemort growled.  
  
"Okay, okay, chill out." Garef muttered. "I promise I'll get Potter. Go do whatever you want. Visit Mount Rushmore, I don't care. I'll take care of things here."  
  
"Whatever." Voldemort grunted, and disapperated.  
  
"Send me postcards." Garef muttered. He sat back in his chair and stared outside. He saw thousands upon thousands of bats seemingly blocking out the moon. He seemed to enjoy the memories... carnage, destruction, the thrill of silently attacking and killing a hero... a girl shrieking in terror, with no one to aide her, or answer her final screams, or challenge him anymore. Then he got promoted, and now he has to sit behind the desk all day, directing troops, and without a hot secretary. Crimany, he missed the old days...  
  
"You'll come sooner or later, Harry. And I'm not going to let Voldemort duel you. For what your great-great something or other grandfather did to my great half Uncle, I will make you pay. And then, maybe I'll kill that old fart, Voldemort. Heh."  
  
"Garef!"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"The two children!"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Harry's friends! It's time, I believe. Is it all right, sir?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. Send them in."  
  
Two shadows darkened the doorway. And in walked Hermione.  
  
FOLLOWED BY RON.  
  
"The goblet."  
  
"Here, sir." The man handed them a goblet. Hermione recognized it.  
  
"This, kiddies, is the cursed cup."  
  
"It's actually called the..."  
  
"Don't say it, man! These are kids!" Garef warned him silent.  
  
"This, kids, will make you immortal. And all you have to do is get Harry here. What do you say?" Garef handed Ron the cup.  
  
I don't believe it, Ron thought. Immortal? But they want Harry. And... He looked in the cup.  
  
IMMORTALITY.  
  
Ron held the cup in his hand, pondering. Then he squeezed. And it shattered.  
  
"What? Why you little! You'll pay for that one!" Garef bellowed.  
  
"I don't think so." Then he pulled out his wand. How he had gotten it back was a mystery to Hermione. "This isn't over just yet."  
  
Is Garef mad to challenge Voldemort? Do we even care? And what about Ron? How did he survive getting his spine broken? Will Harry fall into the two dark entity's trap? Will he be able to stop them both in their tracks? Or will Ron have the opportunity to do that before him? Find out in the next action-packed chapter of Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction!  



	8. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter   
And the   
Silver Bullet Faction  
  
When we last left Harry, it looks like a little help had arrived. But time is running out - at any moment, Hermione could be gone forever in the blink of an eye. When who should arrive at Garef's castle but an all-but-dead Ron. Is the hero about to give the prince of darkness a royal butt whooping, or is he biting off more than he can chew?  
  
Chapter 8  
Tribute  
  
Harry awoke early the next morning. He knew what a busy day it was going to be, but he was going to have nothing to do with it. Right now, all that was on his mind was getting Ron and Hermione back, somehow.  
  
He walked down the steps to the common room, and when he entered, he noted it was empty.  
  
Almost.  
  
In the corner of the room was Ken, reading a paper by the fire.  
  
"Hello, Harry." Ken looked up.  
  
"Ken, I need to know how the faction is going to get Ron and Hermione back."  
  
Ken sighed. "Harry, as you know, you and Dumbledore are the only ones allowed to see me. These aren't my rules." Harry gave him a confused look. "Th faction thinks they are dead. I spied on them the other night."  
  
"Are they?" Harry asked.  
  
"I'm not allowed to tell you that they are... ooh, I'm gonna get it for that..."  
  
"Well, what do I do?"  
  
Ken thought for a moment. "One, you can go after them yourself. Pbthh." Ken blew a raspberry and gave him a thumbs down. "B, you can convince the faction that they're alive."  
  
"That sounds easier."  
  
"Is that your final answer? Whah-wawww."  
  
"No, huh?"  
  
"No. 5, and probably your best bet, would be to go to Dumbledore. That guy is a genius, you know that? I found a neat spell last night how to transfigure a stone to any metal, and then he reminded me that I was a muggle in life."  
  
"What was the spell?"  
  
"Convertus, and the letters of the metal's atomic symbol. Remember it. You never know when it might come in handy."  
  
"Yeah? Well, I think I'm gonna go talk to Dumbledore now. I..."  
  
"Harry? Who are you talking to?" Dean Thomas came up behind him.  
  
"Huh? Just..." But Harry felt Ken elbow him in the ribs. "I mean..."  
  
"Don't respond to anything I might say." Ken whispered.  
  
"Okay." Harry replied. He heard Ken slap his hand over his forehead.  
  
"Okay what?" Dean asked.  
  
"Nothing, Dean. Sorry I woke you up, or whatever, or, uh... gotta go." Harry hurried out of the common room, passing a furious Argus Filch, who must have been cleaning the walls since last night when Fred and George plastered them with dung. It seemed to Harry that they had lost the spirit since Ron had disappeared, and these feeble attempts to piss off Filch just weren't doing anything for them.  
  
Filch was just about to tell Harry off and try to get him in trouble for nothing, when Ken spotted danger, and picked up Filch's bucket, flipping it over on his head. Harry tore off for dear life.  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore was on the other side of the castle, humming quietly to himself. He looked out the window, enjoying the quiet, serene morning...  
  
"PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A furious echo thundered through the halls, and a moment later, Ken and Harry appeared in front of him.   
  
They stopped.  
  
"I didn't do it." Ken said quickly, despite the twinkle of mild amusement in Dumbledore's eye.  
  
"Now, Mister Hunt, we can't go around driving the staff out of their minds and awaking the entire castle. There are much more important things to be done."  
  
"Yeah, I know. Harry wants to talk to you about convincing the others that his friends are alive."  
  
"Ah, yes. But I'm afraid I've already tried. We need proof. I'm afraid that there is no way we can prove it to them at this time. We'll just have to wait, Harry. I'm sorry."  
  
"What? NO!" Harry burst out, taking Ken and Dumbledore back. "I've waited long enough. You always have a plan, professor! But right now, there's nothing you can do." Dumbledore looked at him meaningfully. "And time doesn't stop for you to take action or think of a plan. I'm... I'm sorry. I'm just worried."  
  
"It's understandable, Harry. But you just can't go into every situation with your head down. Hopefully Ron and Hermione can buy some time. As for Snape, he is going to another convention to try and work on a cure. Schedules will be changed so that Doctor String will be taking care of potions lessons. With a little luck, Harry, I'm sure, more than ever, that Ron and Hermione will be just fine. Now, go along. Breakfast should be almost ready. And Ken..."  
  
"Yes, Professor?" Ken said, with the most deceptively angelic grin on his face, a halo seemingly appearing above his head. Dumbledore saw right through this.  
  
"Stay out of trouble. Please..."  
  
"Yes, sir!" Ken replied. "Come on, Harry, I'm sure the professor is very busy right now, and we've got business of our own..." He grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him down the hall. When they got to the end, Ken pulled him into an empty classroom.  
  
"What's going on?" Harry asked.  
  
"Look." Ken pointed at the wall, which began to magically glow. It depicted Ron, standing before Garef and next to Hermione. He had his wand out, and they were getting ready to fight. Harry watched the scene play out before his eyes.  
  
"Wow. It looks like Ron's holding his own so far." Harry said, impressed.  
  
"I just hope he can hold out for a little while longer." Ken muttered.  
  
***  
  
"What?Why you little! You'll pay for that one!" Garef bellowed.  
  
"I don't think so." Then he pulled out his wand. How he had gotten it back was a mystery to Hermione. "This isn't over just yet."  
  
This worked once before...  
  
"Imperius!" Ron shouted.  
  
"Expelliarmus!" Garef roared. Ron's wand flew out of his hand, back into the corner.  
  
Garef made his hands up into fists. Ron gripped his jaw and squeezed, breaking four oversized canines without a wince.  
  
"YOU'RE GONNA GET IT NOW!" Garef yelled, and threw his fist, which Ron caught. He picked him up, and threw him headfirst into the wall, which broke out beneath him. Then he stepped up to the cloud of clearing dust.  
  
Suddenly, a hand shot up and gripped his shirt, and threw him over, plowing him into the floor of the next room. But again, Ron grabbed his wrist, and flipped him again into the floor.  
  
"Master!" The boy who had kidnapped Hermione appeared.  
  
"You couldn't just kill him, huh?" Garef growled with his face in the floor. Ron stood, raised his foot, and brought it down. Right on Garef's head.  
  
"CRUNCH!" He felt Garef's skull collapse beneath his foot.  
  
"Master!" The boy grabbed Ron and put him in a Full Nelson.   
  
"Maybe I should give you a break!" The boy grunted.  
  
"DON'T BOTHER!" Ron threw his arm back, knocking the boy aside, pulled out his wand, and in his rage, bellowed, "CRUCIO!"  
  
"RGHHHHHHH!" The boy growled, rolling on the floor and convulsing.  
  
"Look's like things are wrapped up here." Ron clapped the dust off his hands.  
  
"Don't be so sure." A voice said behind him. Garef gripped a sword taken from a suit of armor from the next room, his head crushed in nastily, the floor spattered with blood. Ron was in shock.   
  
"You can't kill me. I'm already dead." Then he drove it straight through Ron, and lifted him off his feet, throwing him aside.  
  
***  
  
"Ron!" Harry stood and shouted.  
  
"Don't worry. He should be fine. Sort of. But he'd better get somewhere in the basement before the sun rises."  
  
"How are you doing this?"  
  
"This is a very special room, Harry. Dumbledore showed me last night. Whenever you want to see something, take a look at it. It doesn't always work, though. You have to concentrate. I have to go now. We've got a busy day ahead of us. All right?"  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Important business. You know."  
  
"Why can't you go stop Garef yourself?"  
  
"Trust me, Harry. The time will come when I do my part. But now is not the time. It's... hard to explain..."  
  
"I'll bet. Never mind. But you can't be killed, can you?"  
  
"No. Not really. But I can be stopped. Now go on, Harry."  
  
"All right." Harry stood and turned out of the room and down the hall. Ken seemed rather cold today. Harry didn't get it.  
  
But then again, the atmosphere was even more tense.  
  
***  
  
The classes seemed to get a lot more interesting, though. They began to learn transfiguring large objects into animals. The only flaw Harry's made (a horse from his desk) was that it was coughing up office supplies, such as a box of paper clips, and a book Harry forgot to take out of it.  
  
Care of Magical creatures had somehow by far become the best. The Chimera had been transferred to a special zoo, and now they were learning about griffins, which were much more violent and proud than the hippogriffs they had handled the first year that Hagrid had become the care of magical creatures teacher. Like the hippogriffs, griffins were part eagle, but part lion, instead of horse.  
  
The griffin was also, for some reason, a lot more trusting than the hippogriff. Perhaps it was the fact that it could breath fire and defend itself a lot better. Harry had to snicker when Crabbe ended up stomping out a fire on Goyle, who was rolling on the ground howling in shock. Amidst the confusion, Draco stepped over beside Harry.  
  
"What is it, Malfoy?"  
  
"Not much to you, Potter. But I've lost contact with my parents. My letters aren't getting replied to. I don't even think my parents are home. There's something up."  
  
"Really." Harry thought for a moment. "What did the last letter say?"  
  
"Not much. Father was excited about a planned meeting with the dark lord somewhere in Romania in what was supposed to be a few days ago. "  
  
"Are you really serious?"  
  
Draco gave him a look that, even for him, showed some remote level of worry.  
  
"I heard about your friends. Potter, I don't know about you, but if I just had a plan, and I was as strong as Dumbledore, magically, I mean, I would be out there getting my parents back. I would."  
  
Then it hit harry like a ton of bricks. He could have even shaken Draco's hand! Well, he wouldn't go that far.  
  
"Hagrid!" Harry ran up to Hagrid, who was handling the griffin, which was smoldering at the mouth.  
  
"Yes, Harry?" Hagrid turned to him.  
  
"I'm really enjoying the class, but I need to step out for a moment. It's... very urgent."  
  
"Are you serious, Harry? What for?"  
  
"I, uh..."  
  
"Just a second..." Hagrid put a muzzle on the young animal, and turned back to Harry. "I'd be willing ter let yeh go, Harry, but students must be with a teacher outside of the castle at all times, remember? Do you need me ter come with you?"  
  
"No, no. I wouldn't want to interrupt your class, Hagrid. I'm sorry."  
  
Hagrid just shrugged his shoulder, and continued with the lesson.  
  
***  
  
Next they went to potions class, down in one of the dungeons. Doctor String was teaching the class, and even, no, especially Neville was doing well in the lesson. They were making a completely new potion, which could, with one drop, double any object it touched. Neville's was about to be tested, when Dean Thomas, who was in an argument with a Slytherin at the time, was shoved into him, and Neville's whole cauldron spilled on Trevor the toad. Immediately, the entire class was up to their waste in clones of Trevor, and Doctor String, who hadn't stopped the fight between Dean and the Slytherin because he was in the supply room to get more powdered buzzards talon, appeared in the doorway.  
  
"Who let zeh frogs out?" He yelled.  
  
"It wasn't my fault, Professor!" Dean waded through the sea of croaking toads, snickering all the way.  
  
"I, uh..." Neville's head appeared as several Trevors hopped away.  
  
"Not to vorry, Neville." String pulled out his wand, and shouted. "Singulus!"  
  
Suddenly, Trevor was sitting back on the table, in his original position.  
  
"Vell, for being zeh first to make a vorking potion, and demonstrate it so vell, I vill avard Mister Longbottom with a double von-hundred. Zat vill..." String looked at the chart. "Vell vhat do you know? It vill bring you up an entire grade, Neville. Congratulations."  
  
Neville was in shock. He was going to pass this semester, probably this year.  
  
"Outstanding effort, yes." String turned away. "Vell, class, it is time to pack up your materials. I vill see some of you later in Defense Against ze Dark Arts. Class dismissed." Harry hurried outside and tore down the hall. He had a little time, and went back to the viewing room. He concentrated on Ken, and when he looked at the wall, he saw him in a hallway. Ken was being chased be filch, who could only see the magazine Ken was holding floating in midair and undoubtedly thought he was Peeves. Then he realized that they had just turned onto his corridor, and so Harry rushed outside, and just as Ken turned the corner, snatched the magazine and chucked it aside. Just then, Filch appeared.  
  
"Where is he, boy? Where did Peeves go?"  
  
"He dropped the magazine, but I saw him go through the floor, sir." Filch gave him a suspicious look, but turned without a word, hurried down the corridor, and down the stairway.  
  
"Thanks, man. You got me out of a jam. I didn't want him taking my reading material." Harry saw Ken pick up the magazine, which happened to be The New York Times.  
  
"Don't mention it. Say, Ken, can you tell me where I can find that relic, uh, the one that..."  
  
"Multiplies your magical strength? Multus?"  
  
"Yeah, that's it. How'd you know?  
  
"Never mind. Just look at the wall and concentrate, Harry."  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Yes, Harry. But mind you didn't go starting trouble looking for that thing, you know. I've done both our share of that in just one morning."  
  
"What happened with Filch now?"  
  
"Actually, it was a joke Peeves played on the house elves. They got a new refrigerator. We almost ended up with Rigor Mortis Norris. Then I save his stupid cat, and he comes chasing me when I try to sit down and read!"  
  
There was a loud crash, and a loud screeching and meowing downstairs.  
  
"Gotta go." Ken ran off. But Harry had an idea. He stepped into the room and stared at the wall. In his mind, he envisioned Multus, an infinity sign that has been split. Then he looked up at the wall.  
  
He saw it, but what else he saw shocked him even more.  
  
It was dead. It did not glow with the greenish, vibrant strength it once did. Instead, it was dull and lifeless.  
  
"No! Someone else must have gotten to it!" He slammed his hand against the wall. It looked as though his plan wouldn't work after all. He turned back to the wall, but this time a different scene met his eyes. There was a different room, and the Multus was glowing. In fact, it was a lot larger than the other. So it was there! It was just a different one he saw before. The one that Voldemort must have used. But this one... with this size, it must behold an incredible magical power!  
  
"We still have a chance." He muttered. Now he slowly envisioned moving out of the room where the Multus was. Maybe he could figure out where it was... He envisioned moving out of the room, down a hall, and...  
  
Out... of... Hogwarts... Castle...  
  
Now he imagined his way back to the room. He caught a glimpse through a doorway. It was full of... chamber pots? Really fancy ones, too. It was hiding behind them. But Harry knew where the room was located. Or at least the hallway, where the room was. But the room was new to him.*  
  
(*Remember in Harry Potter and Chamber Of Secrets, when Dumbledore mentioned that one night he found a room full of Chamber Pots?)  
  
Any which way, he was going to find it. He had to go tonight, before it was too late. He hurried over to the hallway, and looked around.  
  
Nothing. Suddenly, the bell rang, and so he was forced to hurry off to Herbology.  
  
***  
  
It was a sunny day as he strolled around Hogwarts. He looked over, at Hagrid's cabin. The Care of Magical Creatures teacher was sitting outside lazily against the wall of his hut, having a drink of ale with Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback.  
  
"Hello there, Harry." Norbert smiled and waved to him. Hagrid just drank out of his tankard, but looked up for a second and waved.  
  
"How odd." Harry thought, but waved back. He looked over at the forbidden forest. As usual, it was full of dangerous, hideous, murderous beasts. But this time, something seemed awry. They all stood there, smiling and greeting him. So he decided to stroll in.  
  
They all waved, said "Hi, Harry." or such. Then he saw something else, at his feet. It was a trickle of water, leading further into the woods. As he walked along, it widened into a stream. Then he discovered a waterfall, emptying into the stream. He felt a drip of water on his head. He looked up, and it began to rain. Then it poured. Something was definitely wrong. He heard a rushing from behind him, and turned around.  
  
He was washed away by a solid five-hundred foot wall of water.  
  
"Noooooooooo!" He woke up, sweating. Then he realized something.  
  
"Man, do I gotta take a leak!" He muttered, and jumped out of his four-poster bed. Then he realized what he was supposed to be doing. He rummaged through his foot locker, got dressed into his robes, put on his invisibility cloak, and walked out the door. Down to the common room, out past the portrait of the fat lady, and down the hallway. Until he finally found the other hallway he had been in earlier that day.  
  
The room still wasn't there. How did Dumbledore find it? And he still really had to go to the bathroom. In fact, it was getting wose by the second...  
  
...when he realized he was standing next to an old door he had never seen before. He opened it slowly, and looked in.  
  
It was full of chamber pots... He went in to use one, and there, in the corner, behind the biggest one of all, was hiding Multus.  
  
Now he realized the stakes he was up against. This could be a big waste, especially if he died. But it had to be done.  
  
But how was he going to take in the magical energy?   
  
He suddenly got an idea. He took a deep breath, and grabbed both ends of the break in the Multus.  
  
But nothing happened.  
  
Has our hero Harry hit a dead end? We'll know soon enough, when we present the next chapter of Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction, and the action begins...  
  
Also, a peek at the new idea for the next Harry Potter book, by Silverpen, in which, through your reviews, you decide what happens to Harry next! This will happen in the sixth book, which will succeed the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction!  



	9. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter  
And the   
Silver Bullet Faction  
  
When we last left off, Harry had found the legendary magical relic, Multus, in a room full of... chamber pots? Nevertheless, he had found it, and once again, it seemed that Ron and Hermione had another chance.  
  
Or so it seemed...  
  
Chapter 9  
A Friend in Need.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Harry took a deep breath and waited a few more seconds. But still, nothing was happening.  
  
"No! Piece of garbage!" He looked closely at it, expecting to find a "Made in such-and-such a nation."  
  
He held the ends tight, and thought about it again. Was there something special he was supposed to do, or did it just not work for people so young?  
  
When he suddenly felt it. Like the Crucious curse, powerful and burning, but strangely, not painful. The Multus's glow diminished, until it seemed dark and lifeless. Harry looked down at his hands. Two marks where he had been holding the Multus were fading. He turned around, to face the room again.  
  
"Is it true I can perform magic without a wand now?" He murmured. He lifted his hand, and concentrated. "Accio chamber pot!" He shouted, and the clean one he had concentrated on zoomed up into his hand. He set it down and walked up to the door.  
  
But it was locked.  
  
What's going on? He thought. He pulled on the doorknob even harder, but it was to no avail.  
  
"Oh no, I can't get out!" He shouted. "I wish I could apperate! This is just great!" He muttered. Then it just came to him, as if on instinct.  
  
"Alohomora." He said under his breath. The door opened immediately.  
  
He stepped out into the darkened hall, and put his invisibility cloak back on. It was just then that he heard footsteps coming from down the hallway.  
  
"He's gone! Just great! We must tell the headmaster!" Professor McGonagall rounded the corner, followed closely by professor Flitwick.  
  
"Now, Minerva, Please! He's got to be out here somewhere!"  
  
"But we've searched the entire castle, and Harry is gone!" She shouted, as if no one in the castle was asleep.  
  
Harry wondered what they needed him for. He decided to follow them to find out. He could spare a minute.  
  
Harry followed them around the corner, and hid behind the wall when they came to Dumbledore's stone gargoyle. Professor McGonagall said the password (Acid Pops, which Harry found intriguing). The gargoyle leapt aside, and Harry followed them into the passage. He waited around the corner, as they entered Dumbledore's dimly lit office, and listened.  
  
"Sir! We couldn't find Harry!"  
  
"Calm down, please-"  
  
"But if we don't get him somewhere safe, the whole castle is in danger-"  
  
"He's got to be here somewhere!"  
  
"They're coming after him! And they can follow him. He has a tracking charm on it and we can't reverse it! The faction needs to take him to a safe house immediately!""  
  
"Professor, wait." Dumbledore whispered. "I sense a very powerful magical presence. And it is very close. Incredibly close."  
  
Harry had been caught. He leapt down the curving stone passageway and past the gargoyle, straight down the hall.  
  
"Oh, man!" It dawned on him. By staying here, he was endangering everyone. But how did they get a tracking charm on him? And why did they decide to attack now, of all times?  
  
He realized that there was only one person he could talk to right now, and that was...  
  
"...Sirius, I need your help." He burst into the chamber.  
  
"Harry?" He turned as Harry tore off his invisibility cloak.  
  
"I need to know how to apparate, and fast!"  
  
"Well, Harry, that's something that is a bit beyond your magical level at this point, you realize? Seventh years have a hard time with it, you know."  
  
"Please, it's very important." Harry stared intently at him, his face seemingly more tired looking in the light of the fire.  
  
"Well, Harry, the basic procedure would be to imagine a specific person or place, and imagine yourself appearing there. But it takes a lot of concentration, and quite a lot of magic..."  
  
"Thanks." Harry interrupted, and disappeared. Sirius just stood there for a moment, looking dumbstruck.  
  
***  
  
Harry appeared at least a block from the old castle. It must have had some kind of charm around it to stop people from apperating in. But now that he was here, it was time for some action. Nothing was going to stand in his way this time. He was going to get Ron and Hermione back right away.  
  
He began to walk toward the castle, which looked more ominous and threatening with each step he took. But he was confident. And now there was no turning back.  
  
Finally, he stepped up to the mighty doors.  
  
***  
  
"Where do you think he could have gotten off to?" McGonagall asked.  
  
"Well, I think I know one person who knows." Dumbledore replied. "Wait here. Alohomora!" He pointed his wand at a painting of a door, and the keyhole grew wider and wider, into a doorway. He stepped into a dimly lit room.  
  
"Hello, Sirius." Dumbledore said.  
  
"Good evening, headmaster. Can I help you?"  
  
"Yes. We can't find Harry. Has he come to you tonight?"  
  
"He just disapperated a minute ago. Quite strange, he shouldn't have been able to do it. Left me speechless when it happened."  
  
"Did he say where he was going?"  
  
"He just said that it was very important."  
  
"He must have gone after..."  
  
"...Ron and Hermione! I heard they were kidnapped!"  
  
"Thank you, Sirius!" Dumbledore called over his shoulder as he ran out.  
  
"Was that..." McGonagall began.  
  
"He's on our side, it's all right. Trust me." Dumbledore replied. "Now follow me! We have work to do!"  
  
***  
  
"Sir, we have a problem!" A deep voice called behind Garef.  
  
"What is it?" He demanded.  
  
"It's Harry Potter, sir. He's not at Hogwarts anymore."  
  
"So divert our minions from Hogwarts to wherever he is."  
  
"We did sir, but there's still no point."  
  
"Oh really." Garef crossed his arms. "And why is that?"  
  
"Because, sir. He's here at the castle. Right now."  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore entered the room and stared at the wall intently. Before him appeared scenes of Harry at Garef's castle.  
  
"So that's where he is!" A voice said behind Dumbledore. It was Ken.  
  
"Mister Hunt, I need your help..." Dumbledore began, but Ken cut him off.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm going after Harry. This is... a different situation. Please, I need to do this myself."  
  
"Albus, who are you talking to?" McGonagall asked, but he raised his hand.  
  
"Very well. I'll let you handle this one. But be careful. You know that you're still not immortal." He said.  
  
"Thank you, sir. I'll bring them all back in one piece, I promise."  
  
"Dominus Vobiscum*!" Dumbledore called as he left, along with a confused professors McGonagall and Flitwick.  
  
(*R/R - What language this term in? And what do you think it means?)  
  
***  
  
"What? Harry Potter is here?" Garef shouted.  
  
"Yes, sir! He just appeared a little ways outside of the castle and walked in!"  
  
"He must ave learned to apperate. Send everything you've got at him immediately! I want him alive, though!"  
  
"That's... exactly what I told them when I did, sir." The minion swallowed.  
  
"So we got him?" Garef turned to him.  
  
"No, sir. He's stormed the castle. He's cutting through walls of troops like butter, sir."  
  
"What? He brought Faction members?"  
  
"No, sir. He's all alone."  
  
"You're kidding!"  
  
"N-n-no, sir. I'm not."  
  
Garef just stared back in amazement, his jaw slack.  
  
***  
  
There must have been at least fifty of them charging him, and spells firing every which way in his general direction.  
  
"Deflectus totalus!" He shouted, just as everything seemed to surround him. Restraining spells, knock out hexes, even Crucious curses, all seeming to slide off him, as if he were made of a magic Teflon.  
  
"Stupeferous!" He shouted again, and the whole wave of vampire soldiers was instantly knocked over, as if a giant, invisible steamroller had hit them all. Harry ran over the pile of twitching, unconscious bodies, and deeper into the walls of the castle.  
  
Up ahead, he saw it. A pair of double doors, each twice as tall as him, glowering down.  
  
And then, once again, he was surrounded by a new group of enemies to face.  
  
***  
  
"Minerva, I need you to contact the faction immediately. Tell them Harry has gone after Garef. But tell them not to raid the castle. "  
  
"Why not?" Professor Flitwick interrupted them. "He's all alone and that place is full of..."  
  
"I know, but right now I'm afraid Harry is the only person capable of helping Ron and Hermione. He is the only one able to foil Garef's plans, whatever they may be, and halt him in his tracks."  
  
"That's crazy! He's just a young lad!" Professor Flitwick squeaked. "How can he even face that Demon?"  
  
"Please, professor, Harry may need their help! I know he will!"  
  
"Just give him some time." Dumbledore breathed.  
  
***  
  
"Furnunculus!"  
  
One of them burst into boils right in front of Harry. He felt something grab at the back of his cloak, but he put his hand up to the face of another Vampire.  
  
"Conjuncitivitous!" Harry shouted, and not one, but three of them were thrown aside, screeching in agony. Finally, they were all down. Now there was nothing standing between him and the doors that lead into the chamber beyond.  
  
  
"I don't believe this kid!" Garef howled. "The kid had a harder time walking through the doors than beating this bunch of losers. Where did you train these people?"  
  
"Uh, a lot of them went to various magical schools across..."  
  
"Shut up, would you? Just shut up." He growled.  
  
"With all due respect, sir I just meant that-"  
  
BAM! A white beam shot through the minion, who collapsed.  
  
"My, my, my." Garef turned to face Harry. "So you've finally arrived, have you? I've been expecting you."  
  
"Put a sock in it. Where are my friends?" Harry snapped at him.  
  
"You'd better watch your mouth, you little..."  
  
BAM! Another white beam grazed Garef's forehead, originating from Harry's wand.  
  
"Over there." Garef rasped furiously, pointing at the wall. Harry glanced over, and spotted Ron and Hermione in a cage, trying to yell to him. But it looked as if a muting hex had been put on the both of them. Right away though, Harry saw that Ron's finger was moving from Garef's position over to Harry's. He knew exactly what it meant.  
  
"Stupefy!" He shouted.  
  
"Deflectus!" Garef bellowed in reply. The spell bounced aside like it was nothing.  
  
"Suspendro!" Harry threw his hand forth once again, but Garef shouted the exact same incantation at the same time, and the resulting effect was that they were thrown back onto the floor. Harry got up just as Garef did.  
  
"So. I see that you are very adept at defending yourself." Garef laughed. "But it won't keep you alive for more than a minute. Like it or not, I'm far beyond your miniscule level of magical experience."  
  
"Cram it, chump change."  
  
"What was that?" Garef growled.  
  
"You heard me. Shut your mouth and make a move."  
  
"Very well." He put his hand up. "If you think you're so powerful... Expelliarmus!" He shouted, and Harry's wand flew up into Garef's hand before Harry could react.  
  
"You can have it back if you can defeat me." Garef said nastily as he put it in his pocket.  
  
Oh, man. Ron thought. Harry doesn't have his wand! Now what's he going to do?  
  
But Harry just kept his cool as Ron and Hermione stared on.  
  
He thinks himself that strong? Garef thought, bewildered.  
  
"Here's one of my own." He laughed. "One that even you can't block. Electrus!"  
  
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning appeared from Garef's fingertips. They contacted Harry's eyes, and everything went dark for him.  
  
"RGGHH!!! What happened?" Harry realized that he was now blind.  
  
He heard footsteps moving incredibly fast in his direction.  
  
"Crucio!" Garef bellowed, grabbing Harry around the throat and thrusting his back against the wall. Harry felt as if flames were surging through his bloodstream, all over his body.  
  
"You..." Harrywas barely able to choke out.  
  
"Well, Harry Potter, where are your loyal friends now? Who's going to save you. Hmm?"  
  
"How about me?" A voice said behind Garef.  
  
"What in the h-" But he was knocked aside as something unseen struck across his jaw.  
  
"Ken? Is that you? I can't see, I need your help." Harry began to recover from the Crucious curse.  
  
"It's a small spell, I've seen it before. It should ware off in a minute. Just stay calm."  
  
Sure enough, it did. And when Harry was able to see again, he observed Ken lifting Garef off of his feet and throwing him straight into the wall.  
  
"You've got a lot of nerve, the both of you." Garef grumbled as he stood. "And I can't even see one of you. But I know you're there." He raised his hand into the air. "Visiblous!"  
  
Suddenly, Ron and Hermione's eyes widened, as they saw Ken appear before their eyes.  
  
"Now that everyone is here, let's begin. Two on one isn't very fair. Avadus Kedavrus!" He pointed at Harry.  
  
Harry leapt aside in shock, but the spell didn't do anything. Except for that the walls were now glowing green.  
  
"Touch any of the walls." Garef told them. "And you die."  
  
The spell, Harry knew, would be lifted, should they kill him. He and Ken stared at Garef angrily.  
  
"But you still have the advantage. I know!" He pointed his finger at Ken.   
  
"Don't just stand there!" Harry hollered.  
  
"Suspendro!"  
  
"Waugh!" Ken shouted as he was lifted off his feet, hanging in midair as if tied to a rope, his arms down at his sides.  
  
"Now it's just you and me, kid." He laughed. "You don't stand a-"  
  
"Stupefy!" Two voices shouted from either side of Garef, and two red beams hit him, knocking him back. Straight back into the wall, in fact.  
  
And there, beside him, were Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Never take your eyes off us for a second." He laughed. "Another one of Fred and George's prank items got us out of that one."  
  
"Ron! Hermione! Are you both all right?"  
  
"We need to get out of here before dawn."  
  
"Yeah, of course. Mobilus!" He pointed at Ken, who immediately fell to the floor.  
  
"All right, let's blow this produce stand... But why are the walls still green?"  
  
"Something's wrong..." Hermione gasped.  
  
"You can't kill me." A voice informed them. "I'm already dead."  
  
Garef stood before them, his hand outstretched. Suddenly, Ken, Ron, and Hermione found that, once again, they could not move.  
  
"Now, Harry, YOU DIE!" Garef lunged forward. Harry turned and slipped, hitting the floor, and his hand closed on a rather pointy piece of stone tile that was broken out of the floor.  
  
He held it in his hand for less than a second, and absent-mindedly shouted out the spell he had learned from Ken, as well as a bit of knowledge from muggle grade-school.  
  
"Convertus A-G!" He shouted, and the stone tile turned to pure silver. He turned just in time.  
  
"Avada Ked - GRGHHHH..." Garef stopped dead, the slab of silver jammed into his chest. He coughed - only for a moment, then dissolved into a pile of smoldering ash.  
  
"Boo-ya!" Ken shouted in triumph. "What? What? That's what you get! That's what I said now don't forget! Think you can beat him? Don't even bother! That's what you get when you mess with Potter!"  
  
"Oh, really?" A very high voice said, that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.  
  
"It's him." Ron swallowed. "It's him, Harry. He's here."  
  
"Yes. I know."  
  
Just when you thought the battle was over, yet another one begins. Harry's fight with Garef was just a warm up compared to the one coming up. Is he up to the task? Find out in the next thrilling chapter of Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction!  
  
Also, a peek at the new idea for the next Harry Potter book, by Silverpen, in which, through your reviews, you decide what happens to Harry next! This will happen in the sixth book, which will succeed the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Faction!  



	10. Harry Potter and the Silver Bullet Facti...

Harry Potter  
And the  
Silver Bullet Faction  
  
When we last left Harry, he had taken the power of the legendary Multus and set off to destroy Garef and save his friends. But after finally defeating the monster, he realized that his troubles were just the tip of the iceberg. He must return Ron and Hermione to a safe spot around Hogwarts soon. And to top it off, who should arrive, but He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the evil lord Voldemort. Finally, it seems as if yet another all-out clash is going to arise between the two. But has Harry's luck finally run out? Or is his new power going to prove sufficient enough to defeat the evil magical superpower once and for all?  
  
Chapter 10  
The Ultimate Clash.  
  
"Avada Ked - GRGHHHH..." Garef stopped dead, the slab of silver jammed into his chest. He coughed - only for a moment, then dissolved into a pile of smoldering ash.  
  
"Boo-ya!" Ken shouted in triumph. "What? What? That's what you get! That's what I said now don't forget! Think you can beat him? Don't even bother! That's what you get when you mess with Potter!"  
  
"Oh, really?" A very high voice said, that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.  
  
"It's him." Ron swallowed. "It's him, Harry. He's here."  
  
"Yes. I know." Harry felt a tingle run down his spine. That voice - he remembered all too well their duel last year. The pain, the fear was still fresh in his mind, as if it had all happened just a moment ago.  
  
"You." Harry said. "I am going to make you pay for what you've done. For Cedric and his family. For Bertha Jorkins and that old man. For my parents. And for all the others you have killed overtime." He turned, facing the dark wizard. "You - you're about to fell the pain they felt, Voldemort." Ron and Hermione gasped, and backed into a corner, this being the first time they had ever met Voldemort in person. Ken was stunned.  
  
"What? How dare you call me by my first name! How dare you... it should be a name you should have grown to FEAR!"  
  
Harry just glared at him for a moment. Then he spoke. "I'm not afraid of a name. A name can't hurt you." Voldemort's eyes widened in fury and shock. "Just like I'm not afraid of you."  
  
"WHAT!?! You insolent little brat! You should be afraid-"  
  
"Of what?" Harry demanded. "You're nothing but a bully, Voldemort. If you were powerless to defeat me, you would be afraid. Just like the fear I saw on your hideous face the day of the final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Remember, Voldemort? Priori Incantatem?"  
  
Voldemort looked thunderstruck, but Harry just continued. "And now, I have discovered something that has brought my magical power to rival that of even yours, Voldemort. I have found the Multus."  
  
Voldemort was suddenly wearing an expression of complete shock. Harry smirked.  
  
"You brat!" He screeched. "I have searched for that artifact for years! To make myself the ultimate magical entity! And instead, you go and find it and take it from me!!! How dare you!" He pulled out his wand.  
  
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry raised his hand, and the wand flew out of Voldemort's hand.  
  
"YOU!!! DIE!!!" The dark lord pointed his finger at Harry.  
  
"HARRY! REMEMBER! YOU CAN'T BLOCK IT!" Hermione yelled.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!" A flash of green light, and what seemed like a wall of wind hit Harry. Its death force was so powerful, it crumbled the wall behind it, raising a massive cloud of dust.  
  
Hermione shrieked. Ron and Ken both stared on in horror, speechless.  
  
Voldemort seemed satisfied, and began to laugh evilly. But then he stopped. Staring in shock, he and the others watched as the smoke cleared. At first it seemed as if it was over, but then they realized what had happened.  
  
As a little smoke cleared from the air and the ground, they saw a shock of messy black hair and a pair of shoes appear. When all the smoke finally cleared, there was Harry, standing there, very much alive.  
  
"How?" Voldemort stared, dumbstruck.  
  
Harry just glowered.  
  
"How... how... HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO KILL YOU!?!?!"  
  
"Not anymore." Harry told him. "Because it's over. IT ALL ENDS HERE! NOW!" Harry charged Voldemort, who was surprised at his audacity. Harry stopped right in front of Voldemort, grabbed him by the shoulder, and shouted. "CRUCIO!"  
  
Voldemort shrieked in pain, a fire surged through his body, seeming unstoppable, tearing him to pieces. Harry was almost in equal pain, as his contact with Voldemort was his weakness, causing his scar to burn furiously.  
  
"Now... you know... what it's like... now... NOW YOU KNOW THE HORROR!"  
  
"BRAAAAAAAAAT!!!" The dark wizard screamed.  
  
"It's done! It's over! AVADA KEDAVRA!" Harry shouted. A green wave seemed to overtake the room, and a rushing sound, like a freight train passing by, echoed throughout the hall.  
  
The light dimmed. The dust cleared. And there stood Harry, who slowly lowered his hand. Voldemort lie on the floor, motionless, his eyes wide open in fear.  
  
"Harry..." He heard Hermione stammer. "Harry, you did it! You defeated... He... He Who, oh, I'll say it, you killed Voldemort!"  
  
"Wow, just like that." Ken murmured. "Just like that, you wasted the most sinister, evil, infamous, and might I say, UGLY dark wizards of all time."  
  
"It's... it's over." Ron smiled, and stood up. Then he actually walked over to Voldemort's corpse, and spat on it.  
  
"Come on, Harry, let's go home." Ken said silently.  
  
"Yeah." Harry agreed. "It's time. The fear. It's all ended. Thanks, you guys, for standing by me all the way. Thank you." Harry turned. They all walked up to the door, and made their way into the hall.  
  
"You know, it all ended so easily. It's just so... so strange." Harry told them. "It was over so quick. Listen, you guys, we've got to hurry back, and fast..."  
  
"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked, but it was too late.  
  
"Stehlenora!" A voice shouted, and Harry felt the tip of a wand jab into his back. He felt all of his strength leaving him, the force that the Multus had given him, leaving... leaving... he saw the world, turning red around him, and fading...  
  
He opened his eyes, lying on the floor. He was only out for a moment, but all the same.  
  
"Now, Harry, you will PAY." Voldemort's voice told him. So he wasn't dead... was this a trick? Had he planned this? What happened...  
  
"Watch as I slowly annihilate your friends ONE BY ONE!" Voldemort turned and raised his wand.  
  
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" He shouted. Suddenly, Ron fell to the floor, eyes open, staring straight up.  
  
Hermione whimpered.  
  
"Oh, don't worry, now it's your turn!" He turned to her.  
  
"BACK OFF!" Ken stepped in the way.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!"  
  
Ken fell aside, motionless.  
  
"Ken - RON!!!" Harry wanted to help, so badly, but he felt so weak, and the world seemed so distant.  
  
"Now, for you!" Voldemort raised his wand to Hermione.  
  
But he felt something grab his wrist. He turned.  
  
"NOT TODAY." Harry told him firmly, emanating the sort of fearsomeness like Dumbledore had when he had stunned Barty Crouch Jr.  
  
"You are no match for me anymore, boy. I have taken all of the power you stole from me when you took the Multus." He cackled.  
  
Even in his new body, Voldemort was not that physically strong, Harry knew. The only reason he was feared was that he was so good at killing. But Harry still held onto his wrist, and slowly, twisted it behind his back, making Voldemort begin to groan in pain.  
  
Harry plunged into his robes for his wand, but Voldemort brought his elbow back into his chest, knocking him back slightly.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort turned his wand, and Hermione fell on her back, silent.  
  
Harry opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. His fury was beyond words, beyond screaming, beyond tears. He never thought it was possible to see red. But it was happening. A blood vessel must have burst in his eye, because everything was truly turning red.  
  
"NOW YOU DIE."  
  
Harry just stared on, not caring, just simply furious.  
  
"Avada Ke-"  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" A burst of light seemed to explode from Harry, throwing Voldemort straight into the wall. Lightning flew from his eyes, his fingertips, and all of it seemed to be striking the dark lord, who fell to the floor.  
  
"Never..." Voldemort said. "Never have I been so wronged. This is it. Boy... I will teach you respect. I will teach you fear. I will have... MY REVENGE!!!"  
  
"In... your... dreams..." Harry murmured furiously under his breath.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort pulled out his wand.  
  
"Stupefy!" Harry shouted. Suddenly, once again, their two wands connected in a beam in midair, several bead formed between them on the beam, and a cage, as if made of thousnds of golden strands, seemed to surround them.  
  
"What?" Voldemort gasped, surveying the sight around him. "Priori Incantatem? But how? This is a different wand!" Then he turned to Harry. "No... a little bit of the Multus must be left in you... that MUST be it. There's just no other way..."  
  
The beads of light on the beam between them seemed to be moving toward Voldemort's wand once more. But Harry still couldn't hold out much longer. As memories of their previous duel flooded his head, he realized that his skull was hurting even more.  
  
He concentrated every ounce of his being on the beam, and sure enough, the bead touched the tip of the wand.  
  
Any second now, Harry thought sadly in the back of his head, Any second now, and Ron and Hermione will come out of that wand, all silver, like Cedric, and that old man, and Bertha, and my parents...  
  
But they did not appear. This must have confused Voldemort equally. He pulled his wand up and dove aside, just as the beam from the wands shot past, putting a hole through the wall.  
  
"Where... where are they? I killed them!" Voldemort shouted.  
  
"NOT QUITE! STUPEFY!" Two voices shouted from either side of him, and two red beams struck, knocking him back.  
  
"Ron! Hermione!" Harry turned to them.  
  
"You can't kill us! We're already dead!" Ron said sarcastically.  
  
"Where's Ken? Is he..."  
  
"I'm fine. Did anyone get the number of that bus?" He asked.  
  
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Voldemort shouted. "Harry, we will fight another day, but your little friends are as good as dead! Blasteo!" He yelled, and the walls crumbled. There, in the distance, Harry saw the sun rising.  
  
"I'LL DESTROY YOU SOME DAY, HARRY POTTER!" And with that, Voldemort disapperated.  
  
"Harry! We'll never make it out of here on time!" Hermione cried.  
  
"Oh yes, we will." Harry reassured her. "Everyone, put a hand on my shoulder." He concentrated on Hogwarts castle with all his might... the three held on to his shoulder, without the slightest idea what he was doing.  
  
"Hurry up, Harry." Ron urged him. He was starting to blister badly.  
  
"Harry..." Hermione started.  
  
"Quiet!" He commanded. He imagined them all appearing outside the grounds at Hogwarts...  
  
...and they were right there.  
  
"Hurry! Get inside!" Harry instructed. He followed them up the hill to Hagrid's hut. He would have appeared in one of the dungeons, but you couldn't apparate onto Hogwart's grounds. The sun was rising up over the hills...  
  
Ron and Hermione tore through the hallway and into the castle. They both headed left down a stairway into one of the dungeons.  
  
"Harry!" A voice said behind him. It was Dumbledore. "Come. We must help Ron and Hermione right away. We are losing time." He stepped ahead of him and lead Harry and Ken down into the dungeon, where they found Ron and Hermione sitting in the desks, sorely burnt, the only light in the room coming from and oil lamp on a nearby desk.  
  
"What can we do, Headmaster?" Harry asked him.  
  
"Don't worry, Harry. Snape is due to arrive at any moment. He has supposedly found a cure for Vampirism that his team of Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers were working on."  
  
"Will they be all right?"  
  
"Of course, of course. So long as one of them doesn't just waltz up the stairs and outside." Dumbledore added.  
  
Hermione suddenly jumped out of her seat as if someone had put the Crucious Curse on her for a fraction of a second.  
  
"Professor!" She shrieked. "What about our O.W.L.S.? We've missed the tests, haven't we? Oh no, we're going to fail!" She bolted for the doorway, but Harry stepped in front of her.  
  
"Miss Granger, please calm down." Dumbledore told her politely. "You have not missed the O.W.L.S. They will begin next week."  
  
"But I'll have barely any time to study! And we've missed half of our lessons!" She exclaimed shrilly.  
  
"Miss Granger, it will be all right." He reassured her. "Right now, we have to worry more about your health. I am confident that Professor Snape-"  
  
"Headmaster! I came back just in time. Here is the antidote we finished. It should work perfectly well." Snape told them as he entered the dungeon, carrying a vile of amber liquid.  
  
"Thank you, Professor Snape." Snape handed Dumbledore the vial.  
  
"Who are you?" Snape turned and asked Ken.  
  
"Is that it?" Ken asked.  
  
"Yes." Dumbledore replied as he twisted the cork off the top. "Here, now. Take a sip of it, both of you." He handed it to Hermione first. She drank a little, and passed it to Ron. He took a quick swig too, while the color began returning to Hermione's cheeks.  
  
Pretty soon, he was looking a lot less sickly than before.  
  
"You should be all right. Now, come with me, so that we may all discuss this. Severus, thank you."  
  
"Of course, headmaster." Snape replied. He may have saved Ron and Hermione's lives, but Harry could still tell that Snape was hoping Harry's actions would get him expelled.  
  
"Now, come with me." Dumbledore said.  
  
"All- all right." Harry replied shakily, and he, Ron, and Hermione all followed him. Ken began, but then stopped.  
  
"Is something wrong, Mister Hunt?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"Nothing. It's just, well, goodbye. It's time for me to leave."  
  
"Just like that?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"Well, I do have to catch the next flight, you know. There's a situation I need to handle somewhere else." He pulled a shining golden piece of parchment out of his pocket, which read URGENT - and looked like a memo.  
  
"Where to?" Harry asked as they stepped into the dawn sunlit hall. "Not back to heaven, I suppose?"  
  
"Naah. Not for now. I'm going to the next best place. Goodbye, everyone. It's been fun, but I'm always on the run." And with that, he hurried out the front door.  
  
"Ken, where exactly are you going?" Harry asked.  
  
"To a nice place in America." He shouted, still jogging away. "To a state called Pennsylvania."  
  
And with that, he disappeared.  
  
Harry stepped back into the hallway, and followed Dumbledore up to the medical ward.  
  
As soon as they entered, they saw Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Ginny, and Bill and Charlie all waiting for Ron. And sitting over in the corner was...  
  
"Viktor!" Hermione shouted.  
  
"Herm-own-ninny!" He stood up. "You are all right?"  
  
"Yeah, thanks to Harry and Ron here."  
  
"I came out here as soon as I heard. You are... you are burnt." He added, staring at her face.  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley shouted and began to hug him uncontrollably.  
  
"Mum! Mum, stop it! Come on, Mum!"  
  
"Ahem." Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Mister Potter, would you mind telling me exactly what happened today?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Harry stammered. He began to tell them all about how they beat Garef, when Voldemort appeared, and so on, with Ron and Hermione adding details along the way. He finished up at the point when he apparated onto the school grounds.  
  
"So." Dumbledore began. "Miss Granger, do you realize what kind of jeopardy you put Harry and Ron in? Mister Weasley, do you realize the direct result of your actions? And you, Harry?"  
  
"I... well, we..." Harry just couldn't think of anything to say.  
  
"If you hadn't gone after them, Ron and Hermione would have been lost forever. You also killed one of the most evil and dangerous leaders of darkness in the world. And no one has ever put the Crucious Curse on Voldemort. You made him experience true pain and fear, Harry. In a sense, you avenged all of the havoc he has wreaked. Maybe someday you will avenge all of the deaths, too.  
  
"And you, Mister Weasley. If you had not gone after Hermione and stalled Garef, she would surely be dead. Finally, Miss Granger, for your actions in standing up to Voldemort along with the others, as well as sheer cleverness, contributing to foiling the dark lords plans once again.  
  
"Now I must leave while Madam Pomfrey attends to all of you. I need to contact the Faction at once."   
  
"Harry!" Sirius burst into the room. Madam Pomfrey looked shocked at the sight of him.  
  
"Poppy, don't be afraid. He's with us, all right?"  
  
"Very... very well." She said, and began to tend to Ron's blisters.  
  
"I've got to admit, Ron, that was a gutsy thing you did." Charlie told him.  
  
"Thanks." He replied.  
  
"Harry, what did you think you were doing? You could have been killed! Or worse!" Sirius ranted.  
  
"Now, now..." Mrs. Weasley spoke to him for the first time. "Sirius... I'm just glad their all back safe now."  
  
"Yeah." Sirius considered this. "I think it's time that the hijinks ended here, though."  
  
"A novel idea." Mrs. Weasley agreed, glowering slightly at Ron.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore, I was just curious about something." Harry said.  
  
"What is that, Harry?"  
  
"How come the Kedavrus Curse didn't work on either I or Voldemort?" Sirius looked as if he were ready to faint. "And why did Priori Incantatem occur when he said that he had a different wand?"   
  
"Well, Harry, those are excellent questions. I suppose that two Multuses can not work against each other. It only makes logical sense. As for the Kedavrus Curse, I believe it didn't work on you because, well, you were so much more powerful than Voldemort, that you were able to block it. That is a rare occurrence. As for Voldemort, he had already been killed once, in a sense. It is my theory that either he has grown immune to the curse, or the only way he can be harmed by it is if he uses it against himself."  
  
"What was that spell he used against me that made me so weak?"  
  
"I'm afraid... I'm afraid he used an old spell used to take the power of another wizard. But that spell is only known by Necromancers. Quite intriguing how he learned it."  
  
"But he said that if he got a hold of the Multus, he would be the ultimate magical entity! Now we can't stop him! And it's all my fault!"  
  
"Harry, calm down. You did not know that this would happen. You meant well, and you did accomplish your mission. You saved Ron and Hermione. Believe me, Harry, there is no such thing as the ultimate magical entity. One day, we will have a chance to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Now! I must go contact the faction at once. Good day, everyone!" He turned, and walked straight out the door.  
  
***  
  
The following week they had their O.W.L.S. (Ordinary Wizarding Levels). Hermione studied late each night that weekend with Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, along with Ron. Harry, however, had only missed a day of courses, so he just studied.  
  
Tests were the same as usual. Snape made it extremely hard on the Gryffindors. When potions was finally done, they went on to Divination. Harry found it rather hard to read palms, and so he made a lot of it up. Ron read palms well, though. He had answers written all over his left, so he figured the right (which he had to read) was just the same.  
  
After that came Transfiguration, then that night they had astronomy on the top of one of the towers. Finally, the next day they had Defense Against the Dark Arts, In which they all did amazingly well. Care of Magical was last. When the lesson was over (in which they had to correctly handle a young Chimera and gain it's trust) Harry asked Hagrid what he had been doing over the summer with Madam Maxime.  
  
"Well, seein' as we're both half giants," He whispered to Harry. "Dumbledore had us extend envoys to the giants on behalf of the ministry. Don't tell Fudge, though." He smirked.  
  
Finally, the end of the year had come. As they sat down in the great hall, which was decorated in green and silver. The Slytherins had been doing ecstatic, because Snape had been giving them points left and right, just to win the house cup. They had seven hundred and eighty four points, whereas Gryffindor finished last, with five hundred and thirty three points. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, were still enjoying the end-of-term banquet. Dumbledore made his way to the front and spoke up.  
  
"After several years," He began. "It seems as if Gryffindor's winning of the House Cup has ended. However, several important circumstances have arisen. Recently, three Gryffindors stopped a major crisis from occurring. One that involved Voldemort himself, as well as many other extreme perils. Had the dark force not been halted in its tracks, you all may not have been here. First of all. For sheer brilliance and courage in the face of overwhelming odds, I award Miss Hermione Granger fifty points." Gryffindor exploded with cheers. They were in second place already, but still more than two hundred points behind Slytherin.  
  
"For outstanding courage and selflessness, and demonstration of what true friendship is, I award mister Ronald Weasley eighty points."  
  
Someone in the hall might have thought a truck of dynamite had gone off in the great hall. Now they were in second, only a hundred and twenty one points behind Slytherin. It was still a reason to celebrate. They had six hundred and sixty three points. Fred and George were about ready to dump a barrel of pumpkin juice on Ron when Dumbledore raised his hand and silenced the entire hall.  
  
"Finally, for unbelievable courage, selflessness, determination, and risking everything to return to safety the innocent, I award mister Harry Potter one hundred and twenty points."  
  
If you were outside of the great hall at this point, and you watched the roof very carefully from one of the towers, you could just swear that it had jumped an inch or so. The noise that followed, however, could have almost brought the castle crumbling down.  
  
Ron was covered in pumpkin juice, and Hermione was merely shaking with disbelief. They were only a point behind Slytherin. Draco was sighing with relief. Slytherin had finally won. Dumbledore had rewarded everyone. But then he spoke again.  
  
"I feel, that like any other professor or former professor, that students should be rewarded for outstanding performance in their work, especially when a spell is performed correctly with little effort on the first attempt. Though this is not the most important trait for being a wizard, or for that matter, a student, it is still and admirable achievement. I therefore award an additional five points to Mr. Harry Potter.  
  
The great hall sat silent. The Creevey brothers were sitting at the end of the table with their finger in their ears, expecting a deafening noise. But the hall stayed silent for nearly an entire minute. Then there was a small noise.  
  
"Clap... clap... clap..." Everyone turned to see Doctor String at the teachers table, clapping for Harry. Suddenly, Professor McGonagall stood, and began to clap. Right away, the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs were all giving him a standing ovation.  
  
"Take a bow, Harry." Dumbledore beamed at him, as the green and silver decorations turned scarlet and gold.  
  
After all of the noise had finally subsided, Dumbledore spoke once more.  
  
"For his pure daring and nerve, I have decided to make Mister Ronald Weasley a new Gryffindor Prefect for next year." He finished. Fred, George, and Ginny all shouted his name.  
  
"Now! Let us all eat!"  
  
***  
  
The ride aboard the Hogwart's Express the next day was almost as loud as the great hall. Everyone was talking loudly up and down the cars. When the lunch trolley came by, they all bought several boxes of sweets to share. Everything was great, even when Pansy Parkinson walked through the car crying.  
  
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked sympathetically.  
  
"Oh, shut your mouth, you little Mudblood!" She snapped, and ran off to the next car.  
  
"Wonder what's up with her?" Ron said.  
  
"Bad day, I suppose." Hermione replied, not bothered by the insult in the least.  
  
"Hey, everyone, did you hear?" Neville burst into the car. "Draco's transferring next year! To Durmstrang!"  
  
"Wow, no kidding?" Ron asked.  
  
"Yeah! It's true. Oh, Hermione, Professor String asked me to give you this. He says he got it from Krum." Neville handed her the letter.  
  
"Wow, he's invited me to stay the summer!" She exclaimed. "This will be great!"  
  
"Yeah." Harry said. "Too bad where I'm going won't be."  
  
"Cheer up, Harry! You can spend the summer with us again, I'm sure mum will be fine with it." Ron told him.  
  
"Maybe." Harry stared out the window, thinking about the last few days. He knew what was to come his way soon. He just hoped he would be ready for it.  
  
  
  
A/N: So, what did you think of the whole book? My next one will be called Harry Potter and the ????????? ?????????? (just like book four was supposedly going to be titled. Can you guess it?). I don't promise it will be about what you think it will be about once you learn the title. I do promise that it will be a lot better than this. I didn't make Draco as nasty as he should be, I made a few minor plot errors (but I did correct the biggest one), and the humor of the third chapter practically mutilated the drama of the next few chapters. Plus next time I'll throw a little more in the chapters about their classroom time. From now on I'll stick to writing humor fics separately. Please review for the whole book!  
  
Also, a peek at the new idea for the next Harry Potter book, by Silverpen, in which, through your reviews, you decide what happens to Harry next!  



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